Hearts of Clay
by SnapdragonBojangles
Summary: DeidaraSakura. Only this time instead of Sakura joining Akatsuki, it's the other way around. Deidara is found badly injured by Konoha Ninja and brought back to the village.
1. Prologue

Deidara/Sakura seems to be a fairly popular pairing right now. Only, it's always Sakura ending up with Akatsuki, so I decided to be different and write a story where Deidara ends up in Konoha. Let me know what you think. Sorry I've only got the prologue up right now.

And it goes without saying that I don't own Naruto.

Prologue

The wind sighed dreamily as it flitted through the trees, an invisible presence on its way to some unknown destination. Leaves bucked and shivered in wake of its passing and branches creaked eerily. The sky was solid ebony with a handful of stars peppered across its vast expanse. The moon loomed large and full over the land below. It was a lovely night, clear and cool.

This was all a deceiving cover, however, external beauty cloaking what was hidden beneath the shadowy trees. Once you dived from the majestic sky to below the whispering canopy the torn, bloody ground came into view. Among this mess and destruction there was something else as well. The body of a young boy lay amongst the riddled earth. It at first would appear to be silent, unmoving, dead. But upon closer inspection one could see the erratic rise of his chest as the spread-eagle form desperately heaved for breath.

There was no sign of anyone else nearby, no clue as to who had left the ruined body in its struggling state. The damage to the surrounding area left no doubt that there had been a fight. The ground was scorched in several places and half a dozen trees had been overturned, tendrils of smoke rising from the blackened bark. But there were no other bodies and the only blood was what was pooled beneath the boy.

His lips parted slightly as a pained moan broke through them. A long fringe of hair, once blonde but now stained crimson by blood, obscured most of his face. A few of the crusty strands fluttered slightly as the weak breath lifted them.

From a branch above, the silent shape of a Konoha ninja observed all this. Having decided no one else was around, he glanced up at his nearby companion who signaled that he had come to the same conclusion. In a flash, they moved from the trees to the ground, alighting immediately next to the injured boy. One reached out to check his vital signs then shook his head. Not good. It wasn't a surprise, though. The ground around the body, as well as his tattered clothing, was saturated with blood. It was impossible to tell from where the wound, or wounds, originated.

Glancing at the boy's face, the other ninja leant closer as he noticed the other's headband for the first time. Gently, he swept the long gold and scarlet locks away from the screwed up face to study the forehead protector better. In the dark forest night it was difficult to see much. It didn't help that the metal was badly dented and scratched.

"He's from Iwa," the man's partner spoke up. Peering closer he could vaguely make out the Hidden Stone symbol. "What's a Hidden Stone Ninja doing this close to Konoha?" the other continued in a puzzled voice.

"We won't find out if we don't get him back in time to receive attention." He quickly lifted the limp form. But even his careful movement wasn't enough to keep from hurting the boy. What he guessed would have been a sharp yelp erupted from the boy's throat as only a raspy grunt.

"We'd better hurry," the second ninja said, and in a second they were gone.

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Sorry that was so short. I just want to see what kind of feedback I get for this before deciding whether to continue the story or not. R&R!!!!!


	2. Chapter 1

ZOMG! _29 reviews!_ Didn't expect that. I thought my fics were doing good when they got ten or so for the first chapter. Thanks a bunch! So I guess I'll be continuing the story then. Although I'll let you know, I really don't know where I'm going with this as far as a plot goes. I just had the basic idea and wanted to put it out there before someone else did. So sorry if chapters may be far between while I'm at least figuring out what to do. I'm not the fastest updater as it is anyway. So be prepared for that.

As for the time period this takes place in, I think I'm just gonna go ahead and say after the whole saving Gaara arc. I'm just taking two little liberties—Deidara's still got his arms and Sasori's alive. 'Cause although Dei-chan is the best, Sasori is a close second. So, I think that's about it. Here's chapter 1!

Chapter 1

Sakura was awoken in the early morning hours by a sudden knocking at her door. She groaned as the sharp raps pierced through the curtains of her light sleep. Flipping over, she peeked one aqua eye open. Her gaze made its way over to the window, whose curtains were drawn back, and determined quickly that it was perhaps two or three in the morning.

The young kunoichi groaned again as a second knock chased after the first, this time accompanied by a male voice anxiously calling her name. Sakura muttered an unheard "I'm coming" before rolling out of bed and feeling around for her sandals. Once strapped on, she stumbled to her feet and trotted through to the living room and then the front door. (A/N. I know in the anime Sakura lives with her parents, or at least at the beginning she did, but for the sake of the story she now has her own apartment.) She swung the door open just as the third round of fists rained down.

"Sakura!" The medical-nin was shifting around disquietedly. "The Hokage needs to see you at the hospital right away. Some scouts just found a boy out in the woods not far from here, attacked and badly injured. She needs you there to help."

Blinking, Sakura cocked her head at the other nin in slight puzzlement. "Why does she need me? Don't you have others there that can take care of it?"

The man shrugged. "I don't know. It's bad though. You need to get there right away."

Silently, Sakura nodded and followed the medic down the hall and out of the building. The apartment complex wasn't far from the hospital so the two didn't have far to run. The streets were empty, this being the time of the night when most slept their deepest. They saw no one else in their sprint from building to building and no lights were visible from any window save those of the hospital. All was quiet. Sakura wondered briefly how something as horrible as this attack seemed to be could happen on such a calm, pleasant night as this. But the thought quickly flitted from her mind like a feather on the wind. Life as a ninja had deprived her of most wonderings so naïve as that. And she never dwelled on them when they came.

They entered the hospital at a jog. Sakura followed the other medical-nin down one of the many glaring sterile white halls. Most of the building was as silent as the outside, all patients soundly asleep and only an occasional on duty nurse passing quickly down the corridors. There was a faint sound of voices though, and it was to the room they came from that Sakura was led.

Sakura's companion indicated the door then moved aside for her to enter. "Once the Hokage arrived she almost immediately drove everyone else out of the room. Said she only needed you and Shizune."

"OK. Thanks." The man nodded before turning and walking back down the hall. Sakura was more confused then ever now. There were plenty of able staff at the hospital even at this hour. Why didn't Tsunade just use them? Why only her and Shizune? Contemplating all this, Sakura pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

Shizune was already there, hands pressing a gradually reddening cloth over the boy's ribs. Tsunade was beside her, hands working quickly. Sakura flinched when she saw the scene. The boy's shirt had already been removed and was piled on a counter, the nondescript grey cloth soaked crimson. Atop this sat a battered forehead protector and a pair of sandals typical of most shinobi.

(Just a quick interjection here. Many people asked why the two guys who picked Deidara up didn't recognize him as Akatsuki. First, for a reason even I don't know yet, he was not wearing his cloak when he was found. Second, and I tried to point this out in the prologue, his headband was mangled. The ninja who found him could barely even make out the village symbol. If they had taken more time to study it the slash would have been obvious enough, but at the time it was just another scratch. Hope this clears it up.)

_So he's a ninja, then, _Sakura thought.

"Ah, Sakura. You finally got here." Tsunade didn't even glance up from what she was doing as she addressed the girl.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"Some scouts found him a few miles from here. They couldn't determine much about what happened, but there was obviously a fight. There was no one else there, though, dead or alive." She paused a moment to glance up at the boy's face. "He's beat up pretty bad. Broken bones. A lot of what looks like wounds from some weapon. No vital spots were hit, though. It's the blood loss I'm concerned about."

"What do you need me to do?" Sakura asked, moving to stand next to the bed.

"Just sit tight a moment."

Sakura nodded then glanced down at the boy. His breathing was painfully erratic. She raised a hand and placed it gently on his forehead. Slightly warm, but nothing to fret about. Her eyes continued to study his body, noting the wounds and several broken ribs.

But then her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes snapped up to the pale face. It was the hair, she thought. So familiar somehow…Then realization hit her and she whipped around to look at the discarded headband again. Yes. Now that she was looking for it, the deep slash drawn across the Iwa symbol was obvious enough.

"Tsunade," Sakura began agitatedly. "He is…"

"From Akatsuki, I know," The Hokage finished for her grimly.

"Then why…" Sakura trailed off speechlessly, indicating the room they were in.

"Because none of it adds up," Shizune stepped in so Tsunade could continue her work. "Most noticeably, Akatsuki is made up of the most dangerous S-Class criminals on the continent. Some of the most powerful ninja know. The fact that he's in a state like this alone is strange. Besides, I think it is safe to say the only other ninja could do this. But we didn't."

Sakura nodded, understanding. "So you think whoever attacked him could pose a threat to us as well?"

"If there are other ninja running loose this close to Konoha without our knowledge, I would like to know who they are," Tsunade said tightly. "Even if it means saving _him_."

"But…Tsunade-shishou…he's _Akatsuki_…I'd think it's too big of a risk…"

"Would you just shut up and get over here and help me?"

Sakura flinched at her sensei's tone and immediately moved around to her side. But although she said no more, her mind was whirling. Apparently there was something more going on than what met the eye. Akatsuki was a huge threat. Sakura would have thought Tsunade would jump at the chance to rid themselves of even just one member. What was going on?

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That same night, miles away in the Akatsuki hideout, Sasori was pacing restlessly down one of the dark hallways. His normally expressionless face was overwritten by faint tones of frustration and concern. Bother were directed at his partner.

_Where on earth did that whelp get to?_ The puppet master railed to himself. _It's been almost 24 hours._ He scuffed his foot against the floor and sighed. In his many years of knowing Deidara he had learned not to bother trying to keep track of him. It was next to impossible. But it was unlike even him to disappear for a full day without saying a word to anyone. No one else currently residing in the base had seen hide or hair of the kid since the previous night. Sasori has spent most of the afternoon searching the surrounding area, but he could not locate or even sense Deidara. And he was undeniably becoming worried.

"So have you found Blondie yet?"

Sasori turned as Kisame appeared out of the shadows behind him and shook his head. "No sign."

Kisame shrugged. "I wouldn't be worrying yet. He's probably just goofing off somewhere."

"Yeah." Sasori stared at a point somewhere above the shark-man's shoulder distractedly. It was the same reaction everyone else had had. And they were probably right. Although a ruthless killer when he needed to be, Deidara was the youngest member of Akatsuki, and still a bit of a kid at heart. He and Sasori hadn't had any missions recently and he'd probably just wanted a reprieve from the listless hideout for awhile. He could never sit still for long as it was.

Still, Sasori couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"Have you informed Leader yet?" Kisame asked as he started walking again.

"Not yet," Sasori said, following. "He wouldn't be bothered. Maybe in a day or two if Deidara hasn't returned."

"Sounds like a plan," Kisame agreed. They both walked in silence a moment until they approached the door to Sasori's room. The puppet master stopped, deciding to occupy himself with some puppet mending to get his mind of his missing partner. "Let me know if you hear anything," Kisame said as he kept walking. Sasori just nodded.

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Short, I know. I try to do longer chapters, but then I'll end up with as long as a month or two between updates. So that'll all depend on the amount of time I have to write. Sorry if any of that seemed rather vague. Like I said, I still don't have a solid plot for this story. I'm just as unsure about what's going to happen as any of you, so once again please keep that in mind. I'll try and figure something out before next chapter so things can get a little more definite. R&R!


	3. Chapter 2

Thanks again for all the reviews! And sorry the last two chapters have been so short. Hopefully this one will be a bit more satisfying.

Chapter 2

The long night was finally over. The sun was already well above the horizon, and the streets that had been silent and empty only a few hours before were now bustling with activity. Sakura sat on a chair looking out a window on the market below. She was in a room on one of the upper floors of the hospital, in almost the same position she'd been in since they'd finished working on the boy from Akatsuki.

He now lay in bed, bandaged and bruised but alive. Tsunade had assigned Sakura to watch over him until he woke. And pray that his injuries would prevent any violent struggles he might make when he did. For now he was resting peacefully and Sakura had no way to occupy herself except by watching the activity below. And now that she was growing tired of that…

Sakura turned her gazed away from the outside to the figure on the bed before her. She, Tsunade, and Shizune had moved him up there themselves. The Hokage wanted to keep him from as few eyes as possible. As far as she knew, no one else who had seen him had yet identified him, including the ninja who had brought him in. Sakura could understand why, he'd been such a mess when she first saw him. But Inner Sakura had gone crazy once he was cleaned up and Sakura had got her first real good look at him. Even with all the injuries, he was obviously a good looking guy.

Rising from her chair, Sakura quickly pushed that observation from her mind, rather embarrassed that those girlish thoughts still managed to worm there way into situations like this. She moved to stand next to the bed, observing the boy steadily. She thought back briefly on the first time she'd seen him. There wasn't much to reminisce on. It had only been for a few minutes, before he'd run off with Gaara's body and was pursued by Naruto and Kakashi while herself and Chiyo confronted the other one. But it had been long enough for her to recognize him just now.

She reached out a hand impulsively and gently touched his face. He couldn't have been more than a few years older than her, 18 or 19 perhaps. (A/N. Not sure what Deidara's age really is, but this seems to be around where most people put him.) And already such a high-ranked criminal. Sakura couldn't imagine how a life like that would be. Always having to live looking over your shoulder, never quite safe no matter where you went. How could anyone choose to exist like that?

Sakura was just drawing her hand back and turning to return to her chair, when suddenly the boy's eyes snapped open. Sakura jerked back but not before one of his hands shot up to grab her wrist in a vice-like grip. She flinched despite herself. He was fast.

There was a moment of silence between the two as they just stared at each other. Sakura didn't know how to react. She didn't want to do anything that might provoke him to attack, but at the same time she didn't want to appear weak or nervous. The other's expression was completely unreadable. "Uh…" Sakura groped frantically for something to say. "How are you feeling?"

The boy's stoic face finally relaxed a bit. He blinked a few times, cerulean eyes darting curiously around the room although his grip on Sakura's wrist never loosened. "Who are you, un? Where am I ? What happened?"

"Er…" Sakura fumbled around again, not sure how much she should tell him. "My name is Sakura," she said after a moment. "You were found injured in the woods last night. You're in a hospital."

"Sakura," the boy said her name experimentally. Then his eyes narrowed and he squeezed his hand tighter. "And are you aware of who I am, un?"

The girl held back a yelp, then nodded coldly. "You're with Akatsuki."

"Very good, un." He grinned impishly at her. Suddenly, the top of Sakura's wrist began to smart painfully as it was clenched hard by something. She cried out in spite of herself. _Crap_, she thought, thinking back to when she'd first seen those weird hand-mouth things, _didn't think about those_. He ground down harder. "Then I would suggest you answer my questions a little more fully. Where am I and what is going on, un?"

Sakura bit her lip. Oh well, he'd find out eventually. "You're in Konoha. Some of our scouts found you last night and brought you in. Apparently you got into some kind of fight and came out on the wrong end. You would have died if we hadn't saved your worthless life."

She put a noticeable emphasis on that last statement which made him scowl momentarily. But he released her arm and settled back against the pillows. Sakura snatched her hand back and studied her wrist carefully. The skin wasn't broken but it was bright red and the teeth marks were evident. But it was nothing a little medical jutsu couldn't handle. Sakura plopped back down in her chair and set to work. When she looked back up the boy was staring at her.

"I remember you, un," he spoke up. "You were that brat that was with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. You defeated Sasori-danna."

Sakura nodded, feeling a small sliver of pride when he used the word "defeated". "And you're the jerk who killed Gaara and tried to capture Naruto," she said back.

They were quiet again. Sakura was feeling rather uncomfortable, but she had no way to get a hold of Tsunade. She couldn't just leave the guy there, alone and unattended. She was surprised at how amiable he was being, but her leaving would almost certainly spell disaster. The Hokage had promised to return in a few hours time. She would just have to hold out until then.

"You didn't answer my question," she said.

"Hmm?" He raised and eyebrow at her.

"How're you feeling?" She rose from her chair and stood by the bed again, hands on her hips and as stern a look as she could muster on her face. "Whether I like you or not, you are still my patient. And I will therefore treat you as such."

He glanced up at her then away again. "I'm fine, un. Just a little sore."

Sakura nodded then reached down to pull down the bed sheets and check his bandages. She wasn't surprised when he pulled away. The kunoichi sighed then glared down at him. "Look, you've been reasonable cooperative so far, so I really don't want to complain. But you need to understand that we don't mean you any harm. Not yet, at least. Although I don't know exactly _why_ the Hokage decided to help you, I'm not going to do anything against her wishes. So, please…" she trailed off, uncertain what to call the boy.

He seemed to sense what her problem was and after a moment he muttered, "Deidara. My name is Deidara, un."

"Deidara," Sakura repeated. "If you would please just let me do my job, it will make life easier for everyone. You have several broken bones and bad gashes. The wounds need to be checked and some of the bandages changed." She reached down for the sheets again and this time he lay still as she drew them back.

"Fine," he said, "work your magic." He looked away from her to gaze nonchalantly at the bare ceiling. After a moment he began to hum a cheery little tune to himself. Sakura had to work not to stare at him. This Deidara was an odd one.

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Unbeknownst to the two ninja, they were, at that very moment, being observed. A sparrow, small, insignificant, was perched on the window sill. It pecked absently at some minute beetle scurrying by, as any bird would. But its bright eyes were trained on the two teenagers in the room beyond. Deep and intelligent eyes they were. _Not_ like those of a normal bird.

Once the girl rose to check the boy's injuries, the sparrow shook itself quickly and then took flight. Didn't seem like anything interesting was going to happen now. The tiny bird rose into the sky, gliding high over the colorful village below. Then, with a quick sweep of its wings, the sparrow flitted off towards the forest. It moved quickly, fast as a large chestnut bullet. After awhile, Konoha a few miles behind now, it suddenly folded its wings back and dropped, straight through the leafy canopy. The landscape it emerged on was completely diced, runnels torn in the earth, trees turned charcoal. The same place Deidara had been found the night before.

The sparrow alighted on a low hanging branch and emitted a series of saucy trills. In the wake of this chorus, a shape stepped out of the shadow of an old oak. Sharp blue eyes glared out from beneath a long fringe of auburn hair. A small form clad in a tight dark green robe and heavy black boots, the figure stepped forward into a weak beam of sunshine. The light revealed a young woman, slim and fine-featured. Her cold eyes glanced up at the sparrow. "What news?" a low voice rose from the finely formed lips.

The bird ruffled its feathers briefly before dropping from its perch to the ground. In a puff of smoke, the transformation jutsu was lifted and another young woman appeared. Unlike her porcelain companion, this girl was taller and fuller, still feminine but obviously a physical force to be reckoned with. She brushed a lock of ebony hair out of her face before answering her companion. "He is still alive. And it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon."

"Tch." The first girl shook her head. "Kanaye won't be happy about that. He wanted to finish this one off as quickly as possible."

"Well, there's no point in attacking now. Not while he's in Konoha. That would be a challenge too great for us even."

"What do you think we should do?"

"I'll remain here for now. Keep an eye on things. You should return to Kanaye, let him know what's going on."

"Yeah, leave me to take the heat."

"He may have put us up to this, but that doesn't put him above us. You could kill him in a second if you wanted anyways."

The smaller girl sighed. "Whatever. Just don't get caught."

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"I told you, I don't want to talk about it, un!"

"And why not?"

"Why should I, un? What reason do I have to help you?"

"Well, let's see. Maybe because I saved your bloody life!"

"So, un?"

"You do know that honor is part of a ninja's code, right?"

"Not mine."

Tsunade growled in frustration, putting her head in her hands and massaging her temples. Sakura stood behind her sensei's chair, arms crossed and glaring daggers at Deidara. The blonde, however, appeared to be having the time of his life. He was lounging in bed, arms crossed behind his head, corners of his mouth twitching and elfish eyes dancing impishly.

It was getting late, and the two woman had been interrogating Deidara for nearly an hour by then. But he was refusing to give them any answers. He was having a grand time leading them around by the nose though, as they desperately attempted to pick his brain of what had happened the previous night. Part of Sakura wondered if even he really knew what had happened to him.

"Can't you at least tell us why you were this close to Konoha?"

"I can tell you it has nothing to do with my getting attacked, so it is therefore none of your business, un."

"But who did it?" Tsunade pushed. "Is it someone who could be dangerous to the village?"

Deidara shrugged. "Don't know, don't care, un."

"Would you please stop saying 'un'?"

"No, un."

Tsunade slammed her fist hard against one of the chair arms, making Deidara's grin grow even wider. "Throwing a tantrum won't help you, un," he chastised the Hokage brightly. Tsunade stared at him in near disbelief for a second before shooting up to a standing position. She put a hand on Sakura's shoulder and propelled her towards the door, mouth set in an angry line. Deidara chuckled as they left the room.

Slamming the door behind them, Tsunade turned to Sakura. "I'm sorry you've had to be stuck with him all day. You can go on home for now. I'll have a few ANBU posted around the area in case he tries anything funny."

"Have you even told anyone else about him yet?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade shook her head. "Just you, me, and Shizune know the specifics. A few know that we have someone out of the ordinary here, but not specifically who. That could cause a riot. Now, I want you to go home and get some sleep. Meet me at the village gates first thing in the morning. I'm going to have Hiroshi take us out to where he found Deidara. I'd like to take a look around there."

Sakura nodded, suddenly realizing how tired she was. "Hai, Tsunade-shishou," she agreed with a yawn.

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Well, it was a little longer than the last one. Sorry it's still kinda short. I just want to get as much out as possible before school starts. Hope no one seemed too OOC. Oh, and Deidara has finally returned to the manga! does a happy dance And he got his arms back too! But on the downside, it looks like he's been partnered with Tobi :p I miss Sasori already. R&R!


	4. Chapter 3

Ok, I want to apologize _profusely_ for taking so long on this chapter. School is worse than ever this year and I have almost no free time at all. It really sucks. So, I can't promise how often I'll be able to post chapters this year. Hopefully at least once or twice a month. But I'll try to make them longer when I do. Thanks for all the reviews last chapter!

Chapter 3

"It's just ahead, Tsunade-sama, Sakura-san," Hiroshi said as the trio flew nimbly through the trees. The sun barely peered through the sentinal trunks and branches to the East, casting only a dim light through the forest. It had still been dark when they'd set out, Tsunade intent on getting as early a start as possible. Now they swept through the growing dawn light on their way to their destination.

Hiroshi, one of the Jounin pair who had discovered Deidara, glanced back over his shoulder at the two women who followed him. "I still don't understand your urgency in this matter though, Tsunade-sama."

"If you don't know, you won't have to answer for it later," the Hokage said before the other ninja could say anything else. Hiroshi looked surprised by the retort, but just shrugged before turning back to the path.

Sakura in turn had glanced around sharply at her sensei, who was staring deliberately ahead. The younger kunoichi studied her expressionless face carefully. Sakura had gotten a vibe the other night that Tsunade had more insight into what had happened than what she was letting on. The feeling was coming back strong again. Her statement to Hiroshi may have just alluded to the fact that they were harboring an S-class criminal. But still…

"Just let it lay for now," Tsunade said suddenly in a quiet voice. Her eyes flickered over to Sakura briefly. "It may be nothing."

Sakura blinked, than nodded with a sigh. "Whatever you think is best, Tsunade-sama."

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…_chop off those blasted hands of his, stick him in a pot of boiling oil, wonder if he'd make a good puppet…_

Sasori strode angrily into his room and slammed the door behind him, all the while listing the many ways he would hurt Deidara. It had been nearly three days now since the boy's disappearance and his partner had finally decided to mention it to the Leader. The man had not been happy. There would be problems if the kid had run off and got himself killed; God knew it was difficult to find even decent candidates for their prestigous organization. Sasori had been reprimanded for "losing" his partner and then ordered to go out and retrieve the Stone-nin, as if his relationship with Deidara wasn't so much ninja to ninja as it was babysitter to child.

_I swear I'll buy a leash for him one of these days,_ Sasori thought as he scooped up several scrolls to take on his new "mission". _Brat's more trouble than he's worth. Running off like this, probably getting himself into some stupid trouble, worrying me sick…_

The puppet master's rant broke off at that last thought and he sighed. He knew that was what had him more angry than anything. In his mind—in the mind of any good shinobi—worrying over others or even yourself was a weakness. But he was undeniably afraid for his young partner. Since he'd first discovered Deidara was missing, he'd had the uneasy feeling that this wasn't just one of the blonde's annoying little escapades. And that feeling was persistant in its insistence that something wasn't right. What, Sasori didn't know, but that nagging thought wouldn't leave him alone. There was trouble brewing somewhere nearby.

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Omg, that sucked so bad. Sorry guys, I didn't take a whole lot of time on this chapter even if it has been a few months since my last update. Just wanted to get something out there to let ya'll know I'm still alive and haven't given up on this story yet. Don't know when the next chapter will be, but please don't kill me if it's another long wait. R&R.


	5. Chapter 4

Another long wait. I had to rewrite this chapter three or four times before I was satisfied with it. Terribly sorry, but thanks to everyone who's still reading and reviewing! I'll go ahead and warn ya'll this chapter might be a bit…strange. I dunno. I'm reading the Dark Tower series by Stephen King right now, and anyone who's read those books will know they can have a weird effect on your mind. Hope everyone will enjoy it anyway.

Chapter 4

"Well, they made quite a mess here, didn't they?" Tsunade remarked as the trio of ninja surveyed the scar that had once been lush forest. "It was quite a fight."

The fallen trees had stopped smoking and cooled into a hard charcoal. The pungent smell of scorched vegetation had receded to a faint tickle in the air. But the diced earth was still the same, the one dried bloodstain ornamenting the dirt with a dark maroon blotch. And there was still a hush blanketing the area; no animals, if there at all, were making their presence known. There was one lone sparrow roosting on a branch a few yards outside the circle of toppled trees, but it was so statuesque as to be almost invisible.

"What is it that we're looking for, exactly?" Hiroshi asked as he walked farther out into the clearing.

Tsunade shrugged. "Anything that could give us an indication of who did this or why." She began to move forward as well, but slowly, and once Hiroshi had moved out of earshot and was occupied in his exploration, the Hokage turned to Sakura. "You said Deidara attacks with explosions?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," Sakura answered as she followed her teacher. "According to Kakashi-sensei and Naruto he somehow uses clay sculptures rather than exploding notes or something."

Tsunade nodded. "The trees look like they could have been toppled in an explosion," she said, raising her voice so that Hiroshi was now included in the conversation. "But not these," she continued as she knelt beside a deep rut.

"They almost look like giant claw marks," Hiroshi observed from his spot next to another gash.

As the two older ninja continued to study and discuss what technique could have produced this devastating result, Sakura moved away to do her own observing. She kicked at the upturned dirt and blackened foliage as she went but nothing of interest showed itself. Unwittingly, her mind instead turned itself to thoughts of the previous day. She had been forced to remain with Deidara most of the day before Tsunade showed up. Badly injured and exhausted, the missing Stone-nin had spent most of those hours asleep. But the little amount of conversation Sakura had had with Deidara had led her to a strange conclusion: this guy was the Naruto of Akatsuki. Obnoxious, cheerful, and almost impish, he was the opposite of what she would have expected of someone in that organization. But he was still dangerous. Very dangerous. Sakura rubbed her wrist absentmindedly as she recalled the speed with which he'd grabbed it before. And that was injured and disoriented. What in the world was Tsunade planning to do once he'd recovered?

Sakura caught sight of something amid a clump of grass on the far side of the clearing, at the base of a tree which had been scorched but not toppled. Kneeling down, she brushed the grass aside and picked up the object. A rough, dry surface met her touch, and she opened her hand to find the head and partial torso of a miniature clay bird nestled in her palm.

_Must be one of Deidara's exploding sculptures_, she thought. The immediate area around the sculpture's resting place wasn't badly damaged, and as so much of the bird had been left intact, Sakura figured the Iwa-nin had been running low on chakra by this time. She ran her finger gently over the earthen body. The kunoichi could feel the faint pattern of feathers adorning the bird, and she marveled at the life-like delicacy of it. It was an impressive piece of work. She wondered how exactly Deidara's jutsu worked; did he just carry around a bag of exploding sculptures with him everywhere or what? She shrugged and pocketed the bird. She'd be interested in trying to find out more about that.

Sakura stood and brushed the dirt and ash from her knees. She heard a soft trill above her and looked up to see that the lonely sparrow had fluttered in closer. _That's what the sculpture was,_ Sakura thought. _A sparrow_. The bird stared at her a minute with its bright, beetle-black eyes before giving a final chirrup and springing from its perch to disappear among the remaining leafy branches. Sakura stared at the spot it had disappeared into for a moment before blinking and shaking her head to bring her mind back to the task at hand.

She became aware of Tsunade and Hiroshi's voices behind her and turned to see them both hunkered down above one of the ruts. Sakura hurried over, anxious to see what they were examining.

"…doesn't seem to be any practical reason for it," Hiroshi was saying as Sakura approached. He glanced up at her as she came over and scooted a bit to give her a better view. Kneeling next to the other two, Sakura peered into the hole and studied what lay inside.

At the bottom of the welt, half-sticking out of the caked dirt, was a jet-black ram's horn. No mud or dust coated it as it did the surrounding area. In fact, belying the mess around it, the horn was perfectly clean with the exception of what looked like dried blood splashed across the point.

A few speckles of light filtering into the clearing found their way into the rut and touched upon the deep ebony surface. But instead of reflecting off the bone as would have been expected, the beams seemed to be sucked in. No light glittered on the smooth surface. The horn was like a miniature black hole.

After a moment, Tsunade reached a hand forward and prodded the object. It shifted slightly, but that was all.

"Could it be a weapon of some sort?" Hiroshi questioned as the Hokage lifted the horn into the sunlight. The greater brightness had no effect on it. In fact, the air seemed to grow slightly greyer upon its emergence.

"It might be," Tsunade said, fingering the sharp tip where the blood was. "But I don't sense any form of chakra around it. So unless it was just used as a normal weapon…" she trailed off and shrugged before handing the horn to Sakura. She gave the girl a quick glance. _Show it to Deidara_, was how Sakura read the look. She nodded slightly than looked down at the object cradled in her hands. She gave a barely detectable shiver as one finger traced the broken base of the horn. The girl didn't like it. It felt…tainted somehow.

There was a moment of silence between the three shinobi. Then Tsunade stood and stretched, popping her back loudly. "Well, we'd better bet on back. I don't think there's much left here to see, and I have some business to attend to in the village."

Hiroshi and Sakura stood, too, Sakura gripping the ram's horn tightly in one hand. As they sprung from the ground and began to leap through the trees, the young kunoichi took one more look over her shoulder. She was surprised to see the same sparrow from before perched on a branch and watching them go. It cocked its head in an inquisitive gesture, looking right at her. Sakura frowned but didn't say anything. Then the bird disappeared as the ninja left the clearing behind them.

111

Sakura arrived back at the hospital a little after noon, bag slung across her shoulder which hid the strange object she carried. After taking her leave from Tsunade and Hiroshi, she had returned home just long enough to was up and eat before heading for the hospital. As she strolled towards the door to Deidara's room, she wondered how Shizune was putting up with the blonde.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than Sakura rounded a corner to see the medic-nin slouched in a chair in the hall. "Shizune?" The older woman glanced up as Sakura approached. She didn't look happy. For one alarming moment Sakura thought that perhaps Deidara had escaped. But she quickly squashed that fear. There would have been a huge ruckus if the missing-nin had gotten away. But Shizune looked so serious…

Before Sakura could ask any questions, Shizune stood and pointed at the door to Deidara's room. "He is the enemy," the flustered woman said firmly. "We are NOT supposed to be making friends with him!" She stared at Sakura as if begging for conformation of her declaration.

"Um…yeah, that's right," Sakura said with a raised eyebrow. She glanced at the door then back at Shizune, who was now glaring daggers at it with her arms crossed and teeth clenched. Hesitantly Sakura reached for the doorknob, uncertain of what she was going to find once she entered the room. When Shizune remained where she was and didn't make a sound, Sakura turned the knob with a click and peered into the room.

Deidara was sound asleep, blonde locks falling loosely around his face and hands folded in a peaceful way across his chest. The lights in the room were turned off, but the large window was opened and sunlight gleamed through it. One bright beam reached the bed, highlighting the little pink ball curled in peaceful slumber at the Iwa-nin's side.

"Tonton has fallen in love," Shizune whispered from behind Sakura, her voice no less ominous than if she had been announcing the end of the world. "As soon as we arrived this morning, that idiot pig has been _all over him!_"

Sakura, who hadn't been able to help but giggle at the sight, quickly clapped a hand over her mouth at the devastated note in Shizune's voice. Struggling to look sympathetic, she turned back to the other woman. "You know, you look tired. Why don't you go home for awhile? I'll stay here with them."

"But…Tonton…" Shizune stood and looked about to rush into the room to claim her precious pig back.

Fighting back another smile, Sakura shrugged. "Maybe he just has a way with animals. Let 'em sleep for now. I'll get Tonton back to you later."

Shizune was silent a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Thanks." She gave the sleeping Deidara a final searing glare before stomping off down the hallway, muttering darkly under her breath. Sakura watched her a moment in amusement before stepping back into the room and shutting the door quietly behind her. The open window provided enough light that she didn't need to turn on the lamps, so she circled the bed to where the chair she had occupied the previous day still sat.

Now that Shizune's temporary distraction had ended, Sakura's mind turned back to the matter at hand. She carefully slid the bag that held the horn off her shoulder and into her lap as she sat. She glanced up at Deidara to confirm that he was still soundly asleep. His limbs were twitching slightly and his eyes moved behind the closed lids rapidly. _Dreaming,_ Sakura thought as she slowly opened the bag and took out the object.

It wasn't any different than it had been in the forest. The sunlight filtering in over her shoulder reflected straight off the inky surface just like it had done before. And the feeling that the horn was tainted, evil, still wouldn't leave Sakura's mind. She lightly touched to dark maroon end, then glanced at Deidara again. He had had numerous puncture wounds; it was impossible to pinpoint a single injury that could have been caused by the horn if it was even Deidara's blood at all.

Sakura's eyes started to return to the thing in her lap, but before they did Deidara's body gave a sudden violent jerk. Tonton was awakened by the movement and leapt up with a high-pitched squeal. Sakura jumped as well before standing and stepping up to the bed. Deidara jerked again and yelped slightly.

"Deidara," Sakura said, reaching out and shaking his shoulder lightly. He groaned and tossed his head, eye squeezed tightly shut. _Bad dream_, the girl thought as she tried to shake him awake again.

111

_Deidara was strolling languidly down the streets of an old rustic town. He seemed to be in a marketplace; booths lined either side of the street. The vendors were slightly crowded although not overwhelmingly so. Barefooted children ran over the cobbled street, laughing and waving colorful flags and kites behind them. Everyone was dressed in simple but bright garb, as middle-class farmers and artisans might outfit themselves for some special event. Looking down at himself, Deidara realized that he was dressed the same way. A dark green robe was clasped about his slight form, belted at the middle with a brilliant orange sash. His feet were donned with heavy black riding boots and his long hair had been lifted into a full ponytail instead of the half one he normally wore. Across his face he wore a stupid grin. There was something intoxicating about this place that was making him feel giddy._

_There was a decidedly washed-out feeling to the town, like a rainy day only without the rain. In fact, the day appeared quite bright and sunny. But there was still an underlying greyness to the colorful exterior. The cheerful voices were actually tired and grating. The merry flags flapping over vendor's tents danced in the wake of a deathly cold wind. The stone buildings had the dull glisten of bones, smiling faces were in fact delicate masks covering grinning skulls._

_But Deidara didn't notice any of this. Even his sharply trained ninja senses were fuzzy in this place and the young Stone-nin was caught up in the elaborate illusion. He paced up the line of street vendors obliviously, the goofy smirk still plastered across his face, his bright eyes taking in everything. Ever the artist, his eye was attracted by a booth displaying a variety of ceramic sculptures. He diverted from his path to browse through the selection._

_Deidara's trained artist's eye appreciated the quality of the clay pieces. "These are quite good, un," he mentioned to the smiling young man behind the counter. It was the first time he'd spoken since coming to this place, and his voice sounded oddly drained and far-away. But Deidara failed to notice this absurdity as he continued to study the sculptures and chat with the other man._

"_Did you make these, un?" Deidara inquired as he picked up a small bird that looked strikingly similar to his own. Not quite so lifelike as his, he thought. But still good._

"_Aye," the man said cheerfully. "Most of 'em, any way. Me younger sister 'as recently begun to try 'er 'and at sculptin'." He indicated a cluster of pieces slightly cruder and less exquisite than the rest with a fond smile. "Family trade, ya know."_

_Deidara nodded as he turned his attention to these other works. "She has potential," he said honestly. The man nodded his thanks. "Where is this place anyway, un?" the Iwa-nin asked, the obvious question occurring to him suddenly._

_The man's grin, if possible, grew wider. "Why, this it the Land of Contention." He stared at Deidara happily, as if that should have explained everything._

"_The Land of Contention?"_

"_Why, yes, 'aven't ya 'eard of it?" The man's ever-present grin disappeared for a split second in surprise. But it was back a second later accompanied by a chuckle that sounded almost like a girlish giggle. "'Tis strange that ya should be 'ere but not know where 'ere es." _

"_I guess, un," Deidara muttered, slightly embaressed. How _had_ he gotten here anyway?_

"_Contention is a wanderer's land," the man continued, unaware of Deidara's discomfort. "Not many permanent settlements 'round 'ere. Explorers 'n nomads mostly. And the occasional thestran, such as yourself. Didja want that?"_

"_Huh?" Deidara said, wondering what the heck a thestran was. The man indicated his hands. Looking down, Deidara was surprised to see one of the girl's sculptures grasped there. A ram, its body painted a greyish-white and horns a strange powdery blue. "Oh! Um, well…I don't have and money, un."_

_The man, still grinning his infuriating toothy grin, waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, ne'ermind that. Jus' go ahead 'n take it, 'k? A little momento of our 'appy land. Little Aiko won't mind. She'll jus' be glad some'n took an intrest in one'a 'er pieces."_

"_Well, thanks then, un," Deidara said as he turned to leave._

_The man waved. "Bin nice talkin' with ya. If yer every in town again don' 'esitate ta look me up. Rafu Kyoto. Mos' anyone could tell ya where ta find me."_

"_Right. I will, un," Deidara said. The answer was automatic; he was unaware of what he'd said at all. The conversation had left him confused but more clear headed. He was vaguely aware that this had to be a dream, and that there was something wrong about the whole picture. But he couldn't wake himself up, and his feet continued to lead him down the lively street. Deidara looked at the ceramic ram that he still held. He hadn't recalled ever picking it up. The blonde hefted it up into the light so he could see it better. As with the bird, he knew that he could do better. He had never tried one before, though. He wondered why. The mountain bighorns were plentiful in Iwa._

_Deidara had to stop short suddenly as a troop of children raced across his path, laughing and shouting at each other. One young girl, perhaps 9 or 10 years of age, halted when she saw the blonde stranger standing there. Her bright green eyes twinkled happily when she saw the object he held. " 'ey, tha's one a me sculptures," she said with the same strange accent the vendor had used. Deidara could see the resemblance between the two: green eyes, shaggy brown hair, broad cheery face._

_The entire crowd of children had stopped when the girl had. Now they all stared at Deidara with the same bright eyes and smiling faces. The Iwa-nin shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, un," he said. "It's a very nice piece."_

_Instead of the cheerful "Thanks" he was expecting, in a move so synchronized it was eerie, every smile on every young face suddenly turned to a frown and every pair of eyes narrowed in something approaching anger. "Yar 'im, ain't cha?" the vendor's sister, Aiko, Deidara recalled, said. He shook his head uncomprehendingly. "I don't know what you're…"_

"_Why ya 'ere?" the child barked. "Ya shouldn't be 'ere. 'e won't like it. It's dangerous fer e'ry one."_

_Deidara huffed incredulously. "Look here, what are you talking about, un? I don't even know how I arrived in this Contention place. Don't go yelling at me about it, un."_

_The children all looked around at each other, a wisdom and worry beyond their years reflected in every gaze._

"'_e don't know 'ow 'e got 'ere," one child said solemnly, shaking his head in hoplessness. _

"'_e don't even know where 'ere es," another chirped in the same sad voice._

"_Tha's a pity," Aiko said, tapping a finger against her lower lip thoughtfully. "An 'ere I thought 'e was s'pposed to be a genius." She shrugged. _

"_Wha--?" Deidara began, but the young girl cut him off._

"_But 'e'll find out more soon 'nough." The toothy grin that followed was slightly disturbing. "Now, ya best wake up afore 'e senses ya. An' be sure ta take that with ya." She pointed at the ram. "Es a good choice." With that, she and the other children turned in the same moment and began to trot away._

"_But…Wait, un!" Deidara was more confused than ever now. What was he supposed to know? Where _was_ this strange place? And how was he supposed to take the strange ram statue with him?_

"_Just wake up. Es not that 'ard," Aiko said, giggling and looking back over her shoulder at him. "An' remember me'n me brother. We're always willin' ta 'elp." The children had reverted back to their noisy, happy state and they ran off laughing once again. Deidara was left to stare after them._

_Suddenly, an image flashed through his mind: He was standing in a dark forest, hidden in the shadow of a large oak. His breathing was heavy and sweat was streaming down his face. And he was afraid; afraid as he hadn't been in years. Something was approaching out of the dark, and no matter how hard he tried to hide he knew it was going to find him. From the other side of the tree he heard clumping footsteps, a whuffling breath. It began to circle to the other side where Deidara crouched. The young ninja pressed closer to the rough bark, his nails digging into his palms and his teeth gritted in fear. The loud breathing was closer, almost in his ear now, the thing's head about to peer around the corner…_

111

Deidara shot up in bed with a yell. His head connected with something hard, and fireworks exploded in front of his good eye. He heard a yelp, and once he'd fully woken up and cleared his vision, he saw Sakura standing next to him, holding her own head. A bright red mark was rapidly spreading across her forehead.

"_Geez_," the kunoichi gasped rubbing the scarlet spot. "You couldn't warn a person!"

Deidara was too shaken to retort. He felt as winded as he had at the end of that strange dream and his legs were trembling uncontrollably. The pig, TonTon, crawled back up to him hesitantly, snorting softly. He stared at her wildly, unsure what to make of what had just happened.

Sakura made a frustrated noise from beside him, and he glanced up at her. She had taken her hand away from her head to reveal a shallow cut above her right eye. She looked at the light smattering of blood on her fingers. "I think I hit your eye scope," she muttered before looking down at him. She blinked at the frightened look in his blue eye. "What's wrong?"

The Iwa-nin started to speak, couldn't, and shook his head. His mind felt on the verge of exploding and none of the thoughts rushing through his brain could make it out of his mouth. He swallowed and tried again. "I…I just had this…strange dream…un." He stopped suddenly, and his eye widened as his hand came into contact with something under the blankets.

"Deidara?" Sakura said questioningly.

His mouth gaped as his hand felt over the thing and then finally pulled it out. His heart began to pound harder as he saw his discovery. It was the same ram figurine from his dream, sitting there in his hand, as real as the girl who stood beside his bed, as the room he sat in, as the discordant intrigue that gripped his heart in icy claws. Although, it wasn't exactly the same, he realized. In his dream, the sheep's horns had been a soft blue. But in the real world, they were black as coal.

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So this one was a little longer than the others. Once again, I would have made it longer, but you all have waited long enough for an update. R&R!


	6. Chapter 5

Woot, woot!!! Over 10,000 hits! That's frickin' awesome! Thanks a bunch guys.

Chapter 5

Deidara and Sakura sat in silence, not looking at each other, each lost in separate thoughts. Tonton had quieted down and had resumed her position curled against Deidara's side, falling back asleep quickly. The Iwa-nin scratched the pig's head absently. His own was still buzzing, but he felt a little calmer. The ram statue sat on the side table next to his bed, alongside the horn that Sakura had brought. Deidara had felt a slight irrational panic when he first saw the horn, but that had passed quickly and when Sakura asked him if he knew its significance, he shook his head.

"You know," Sakura said, finally breaking the silence that had permeated the room for nearly fifteen minutes, "they say that when you dream about children, something bad is going to happen to you."

Not knowing why, Deidara had told the kunoichi his dream without any hesitation. She hadn't even asked, he had just spilled it. But it had been so long since he'd been that shaken up by something. It felt good to share it with someone else rather than keep it to himself.

Upon Sakura's words, Deidara looked down at his bruised and bandaged arms lying on top of the white sheets and thought about the fear he'd felt during the last part of his dream. "I think something bad has already happened to me, un," he said quietly. He clenched his fists in frustration. "I just wish I could remember what it was."

"Then you better hope nothing worse happens," Sakura said, her tone sympathetic. For the time being, she'd almost forgotten that the blonde was her enemy. "Your body can't take much more of a beating right now."

Deidara didn't reply, but turned his head to look at the two strange talismans sitting on the table. He reached a hand out to run his fingers down the black horn. "This is the strange thing, un," he muttered, more to himself than the girl sitting next to the window.

"Hmmm?"

Deidara glanced at her. "The rams. The fact that I somehow pulled the statue out of my dream is strange enough, un. But then you show up with the horn. Too coincidental if you ask me. And then the changing from blue to black…Have you ever even see a mountain sheep with black horns, un?"

Sakura shook her head. "I've never seen a mountain sheep period."

"Well, I saw plenty when I lived in Iwa, un, and I can tell you that their horns are not black. Or blue, either. They're brown, un. But this horn seems real enough, so…" He shrugged.

Twiddling her thumbs, Sakura watched as Deidara picked the horn up to examine it closer. She started to say something, bit her lip quickly, then shook her head and said it anyway. "I think Tsunade-sama might know something more about all this."

Deidara didn't look at her but nodded to indicate he was listening. "First off, she went to the trouble of saving you," Sakura continued, although there was nothing unkind in the statement this time. "And the last few days she's seemed very preoccupied. Especially when dealing with things related to your attack. She's been my teacher for years now, and I've gotten to know her well. She's hiding something."

111

At that moment, the Hokage was sitting alone in her office, papers spread across her desk full of content she was supposed to be working on. But she couldn't concentrate on it. Too much was running through her mind and she was unable to focus on one thing. What emotion she was feeling at that moment would have been impossible to pinpoint. Uncertainty, mostly. Uncertainty of what to do next, of how much to tell the others. But also confusion. Anger. Fright.

He would be stronger. He'd been powerful before but now… And he would have more help, perhaps more dangerous help. That much had already been made apparent by the attack on Deidara. Although she hadn't known anything about the kid previously, just the fact that he was in Akatsuki indicated that he was a force to be reckoned with. But she still didn't know why _he _had been attacked.

Tsunade sighed and finally gave up on trying to work. She instead rose from her seat and walked to the window, staring at the happy, bustling village below. Children chased each other up and down the streets, adults examined the merchandise set out on vendor's booths, everyone cheerful and carefree. If what she thought was happening did, how much longer would all this calm and happiness last?

111

The forest remained quite in the wake of the three ninja's leaving. The sun poked hesitantly into the dark crevices of the earth and trees, but, finding these gloomy places unwilling to accept its soothing warmth and brightness, quickly hid behind the next cloud to crawl across its face. The subsequent absence of light cast a grey veil across the forest, making it appear even more hostile than before. It held on to what had happened the other night and remained still, holding it breath because of the dark promise that this event wasn't over. And perhaps wouldn't be for a long time.

Apart from the leaves that rustled in the soft breeze, the only thing that moved—the only living thing that had moved at all that day—was the sparrow. Through the beady black eyes, Sorano watched the three ninja leave. She made a soft chirruping noise to herself, a sound that, in human form, would have been a thoughtful hum. Once she was sure the intruders were gone, the bird dropped to the ground and transformed in a puff of smoke. In its place stood the large and robust young women clad in dark green cloak and thick black boots.

Sorano pursed her lips and walked to the rut from where the ram's horn had been excavated. "That was rather unfortunate," the woman muttered to herself, staring at the spot. She hadn't even noticed the horn was missing when Akiyama had left, and apparently Kaede hadn't either. A slight mishap on their part, but nothing too drastic. There was little chance _they_ would be able to discover the horn's significance. So long as she and Kaede guarded closer against leaving clues behind. But their employers would still not be happy.

"The Hokage may figure it out," Kanaye had said. "Tsunade's an old acquaintance of mine. That's why you must take care of the Iwa kid _before_ you reach the Land of Fire, specifically Konoha's immediate territory."

Well, not only had they not managed to get the boy before he reached the Land of Fire. They had failed to kill him at all. Then the Konoha ninja had actually _aided_ him. And her partner and she had left something behind for their enemies to find. Sorano wondered how Kaede was faring after giving Kanaye this news. She wasn't necessarily worried about the other woman. Kaede was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, especially it fit was only Kanaye she was confronting. But, although he wasn't low on the hierarchy in their little occult, he wasn't the highest either. And there were others that neither Kaede or herself could hope to stand against.

Sorano stood looking at the rut a moment longer, then shrugged and turned to stare off into the forest. She should be going back to Konoha soon. She needed to check on the Akatsuki kid again. But then it would be right back to this gloomy place. It was dangerous to hang around the village for too long. Her transformation jutsu was powerful—possibly one of the best in the world. But there was still a chance she could be detected. Konoha had some exceptionally strong and intelligent ninja. And the powers of the boy were nothing to sneeze at either. She could completely cloak herself and hide and scent of chakra use or human on her, but it would only take one tiny mistake to reveal herself in a village full of would be enemies.

With a hand sign and a spoken word, Sorano disappeared and was replaced once again by the sparrow. The tiny bird was by far her most powerful transformation. It would perhaps have been better to approach the village as a different creature each time. But any other form would increase her chances of being discovered. And a sparrow was common and insignificant enough that it might go unnoticed anyways. So the tan bird lifted from the forest floor, setting a course for Konoha.

111

As night approached, Sakura was replaced by Tsunade at Deidara's bedside. The Hokage wanted to question Deidara on that day's discovery herself, so the young kunoichi was allowed to return home. As promised, she first dropped off a cranky TonTon (the pig had not been happy about leaving the hospital) at Shizune's place. Then her next stop was a hot shower and some rest.

Lounging on her overstuffed couch, clad in a comfy pair of PJs and wet hair pulled back from her face in a messy ponytail, Sakura closed her eyes and let her mind mull over that day. The ram's horn had been left in the hospital room. Sakura had taken the statue with her, not revealing its presence to Tsunade. She had wanted to, but Deidara wasn't about to reveal his dream to someone else, especially Tsunade, whom he obviously had no particular liking for. So Sakura had grudgingly slipped the ram into her bag and left without a word to her teacher. But she hoped that Tsunade would leave the horn with Deidara. It wasn't likely that she would, but, for some reason, Sakura felt like at least one of the items needed to stay with the boy, as if he needed protection from something. The girl didn't know what, but ever since the Iwa-nin had told her of his dream she got the sense that he was in danger from something.

Sakura's green eyes snapped open and she half sat up on the couch. Hold it, if Deidara was in danger, why should she care? They had saved him once already, and, as he was one of their greatest enemies, that was one time too many. If something else happened, they should just let it go. One more Akatsuki out of the way and perhaps this current business would be over as well.

But it wouldn't, Sakura thought, as she wrapped her slender arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. And she couldn't help but worry about Deidara. He had looked so scared when he awoke from his nightmare, like a young child rather than a cold-hearted murderer. And there was still the issue of Tsunade. Sakura was about to approach the Hokage herself if Tsunade didn't reveal any more of what she knew. Typically she wouldn't push her teacher for information; Tsunade was not the type to give what she didn't want to tell. But this situation was different.

Sighing, Sakura rose from the couch and walked to her open window. It was dark by now, the stars beginning to appear and the sun only a faint memory on the horizon. Something—bird or bat, she thought, but couldn't tell for sure—fluttered across the plain of her vision then disappeared into the beginning dark. On the dim streets below, people were saying their goodbyes as they parted to go in for the night. A faint breeze blew and ruffled the drapes around the window frame as Sakura watched the vague phantoms disappear into dark entryways then close the doors behind them. They wouldn't lock them, Sakura knew. No one ever locked their doors in Konoha. Why would they? They lived in one of the most powerful ninja villages in the world. They enjoyed good relations with the other countries surrounding them. They were completely safe from anything.

Sakura grinned to herself as she looked over her shoulder at her own unlocked front door. Even with everything she'd seen and been through in her years as a ninja, the feeling of safety and complacency had reached her as well. It was a naïve assumption, she could admit, that feeling of impregnability. Orochimaru was still out there. Then there was the Akatsuki. And who had expected the Sand Village to suddenly turn on them during the Chuunin Exam four years ago? But it couldn't be helped.

The window squeaked slightly as Sakura closed it and drew the drapes across. It was still fairly early, but she was tired. And who knew what would happen tomorrow. Things were getting strange around the village of Konoha and she wanted to be prepared for whatever occurred next.

111

My apologies for another short chapter. But I did so much switching around with characters and I didn't want to do another and I couldn't really think of a good way to elongate what I already have. But I'm pretty happy with this one. And I got it out in only about a month!!! Can't even remember the last time I updated so quickly. R&R!!!


	7. Chapter 6

Another long update. Sorry. The end of the school year was hell with AP and end of course tests, and scheduling for next year, and all that fun crap. And now that summers here, I'm working and looking at colleges, so I don't have much more free time than during the school year, but I'll try to keep the chapters coming.

Chapter 6

"NO!" Deidara said defiantly, arms crossed and wide eye staring at the bundle of objects Sakura held in her arms. "I'm perfectly fine here, un."

Sakura sighed. "That's a load of bull; you're always staring out the window. Now come on, you've been here a week and who knows how much longer you're going to stay. You can't stay cooped up in this room forever."

"I'm fine here, un," Deidara repeated stubbornly. "Besides, I hate you, I hate what you're doing to me, and I hate your entire village. I have no wish to go out and…mingle with them, un." He wrinkled his nose as if her were discussing something particularly nasty. "And how do you know I won't run?"

"Even _you_ would have difficulty fighting your way out of Konoha," Sakura said with the air of someone talking to a slow but overweening child. "We are one of the largest and strongest ninja villages in the world. And it's not like I'll be the only one with you. If you tried anything funny, the ANBU would be on you in a second. Now here." She threw the bundle of clothes at the Iwa-nin. "You'll have to change."

Deidara huffed as he held up the dark blue shirt. "But I don't want—"

"Would you just shut up and quit your whining?!" Sakura snapped, the edges of her patience rapidly fraying. "I'm no happier about having to waste my day chaperoning you than you are. But it's Tsunade-sama's orders, and you oughtta be grateful for it. And this…" She held up the other two things she held in her hands, and raised an eyebrow as Deidara's face went slack in horror at the pair of scissors and bottle of hair dye. "We can't have anyone recognizing you, so your appearance will have to be changed." She snipped the scissors in emphasis.

Deidara made a strangled whimpering sound as he ran one hand through his long, golden locks. "Uh-uh," he grunted, shaking his head almost fearfully. "You can do anything you want to me, just don't touch my hair, un."

Sakura gritted her teeth impatiently. "If Naruto happened to see you, he would waste no time in attacking," the kunoichi reasoned. "And both Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei's team have seen you recently. Apart from me, Tsunade-sama, and Shizune no one knows who you are. It needs to stay that way, which means we need to alter your appearance."

Still clutching his hair, the Iwa-nin stared at her wide-eyed. He shook his head slowly.

Sakura sighed in exasperation. "I swear, you're worse than a girl."

Not taking kindly to that comment, Deidara glared at her before lowering his hands back into his lap. He examined his new apparel again. "If you're village is as powerful as you say it is, then how much good is this disguise gonna do, un? It seems rather superficial to me."

"Well, it'll have to do. There's nothing more we can do at the moment."

"Transformation jutsu," Deidara said, perking up as the idea occurred to him, but Sakura immediately shook her head.

"We considered that, but you're still too weak to hold a transformation for long." She didn't mention the fact that Tsunade seemed to think that whoever had attacked him may go looking for him again. It would be better if he looked different at _all_ times.

Deidara suddenly seemed to deflate, his expression so crestfallen Sakura felt bad for him. "Fine, un," he whispered dejectedly.

"Thank you. I'll step out of the room a second to let you change. Don't try anything funny." Deidara nodded. Sakura moved into the hall.

111

An hour later, Deidara was staring at his somewhat altered reflection. "So, what do you think?" Sakura asked hesitantly from behind the mirror she was holding up for the Iwa-nin.

He turned his head slowly, looking at it from several angles. His hair, shorn from waist length to just below the shoulders, cascaded loosely into his face without his usual ponytail to hold it up. It was still parted to the side, although a smaller chunk covered his left eye them usual. Sakura had talked him into removing the eye scope, as it was a rather distinguishing feature, and now both bright sapphire orbs studied the mirror's reflection critically.

Deidara twirled one of the now chocolate brown locks around his slender finger. "It's all right I guess," he answered Sakura's question. "But I liked it better before, un."

"You'll just have to get used to it." She switched her gaze to his new clothing ensemble. The T-shirt was dark blue with black trim around the arms and neck, and the pants, black as well, were long and baggy. The shoes were a pair of heavy black boots which, although Sakura didn't know it, reminded Deidara uncomfortably of the ones he had been wearing in his strange dream. The outfit didn't look particularly ninja-ish, which was what Sakura had been aiming for. "Okay, then," the kunoichi said. "If anyone asks, you are my cousin visiting from another village in the Land of Fire. _You are not a ninja!_ You're rather quiet and hesitant around new people. And _please_ try to refrain from saying 'un' at all."

Deidara frowned. "Hey now, I'm a ninja, not an actor. Quiet and hesitant's gonna be hard for me to pull off. I don't know how long I can keep up with that."

"Well, at least you just managed to make it through three sentences without saying 'un'," Sakura laughed at Deidara's face, which was screwed up in concentration at trying to eliminate the ever-present word. "You'll be fine. I'll just attempt to steer us clear of anyone who might try to talk to us."

Sakura moved to put the mirror down on the desk as Deidara straightened his strange outfit. He glanced over at her as he did so and his eyes caught the dead black ram's horn. "Are you sure it's a good idea to leave that here?"

"Hmm?" Sakura glanced up then looked at the horn when Deidara pointed. "Well, I guess. Tsunade-sama didn't say anything about it, and I don't know what else we could do." She hesitated a moment. "But maybe it would be better to not leave it out in the open." She opened a drawer and swept the horn into it. The shadows in the alcove deepened so much that Sakura could barely see the shallow bottom. The horn all but disappeared into the dark.

"Well, OK then," Sakura said cheerfully as she rubbed her hand on her shirt. The shadowy feel of the horn still clung to her fingers. "It's a beautiful day, and I'm ready to get outside."

"Whatever," Deidara mumbled as Sakura rushed to the door. He followed, but paused in the doorframe, turning back to look at the desk. He could swear that a shadow surrounded the dark wood. The Iwa-nin didn't like leaving the talisman alone and unguarded. He didn't like it any more than Sakura did, but he still felt that it was important somehow. But he was honestly itching to get out into the fresh air, so he drove all thoughts of the past few days' strange events from his mind and followed Sakura down the hospital hallway.

111

So, this chapter was extremely short and not very important, but I felt you all deserved something after _months_ of waiting. Hope this satisfies for at least a little while. Please don't flame me for cutting and coloring Deidara's beautiful hair! I wasn't happy about it either, but (sniff) it had to be done. R&R!


	8. Chapter 7

And another school year has begun. At least it's my last. Of high school at least. Anyway, I am not taking my senior year easy, which means less time to write (apart from notes, essays, and crap like that). So, as I say every chapter, I'll try to still keep stuff coming. Sorry if it's still not that often, but I'll do my best!

The first part of this chapter is mostly Sasori, and I want to apologize if he seems a little OOC. And in case anyone wonders after reading this, there won't be any Sasodei whatsoever in this story. I don't think there are enough fics where they're just really good friends, so anything between them will be strictly platonic. Just letting you all know now.

Chapter 7

Sasori was flying nimbly through the high trees of River Country, his long Akatsuki cloak flapping heavily behind him. It was raining—hard. This had done nothing to improve the puppet master's already sour mood. His grey eyes snapped angrily beneath the fringe of red hair that was plastered to his forehead like rivulets of blood, and his feet connected with each branch harder than they needed to. Sasori was traveling without Hiruko which was something he didn't often do. But he had decided to finish this stupid hunt as quickly as possible, and, as his own body was faster than the bulky puppet, Hiruko had been left in its scroll.

He was now regretting that decision though. It would have been dry inside the puppet, but as Sasori was already soaked through it wouldn't matter now. It would have been some compensation if the greater speed had been to any avail. But as of yet, it hadn't. Three days Sasori had been searching for his partner, but he couldn't find a single trace of the brat. He had already covered all of Rain Country. This was where the main Akatsuki base was located and where Sasori had hoped to find Deidara hanging around. But no such luck. More enduring than a normal human, Sasori had swept through the country in a mere day or two and then moved on to the neighboring River Country. And still, nothing. The kid may as well have fallen off the face of the planet as far as Sasori could tell.

Needless to say, the puppet master was not happy. The angry rant he had begun after being told to find Deidara had started up again, and it had been occupying his mind for most of the past three days.

_When I get a hold of that idiotic, obnoxious little…He better not have run off like Orochimaru and left me to be partners with Tobi…_He'd_ probably be even worse than Deidara…But if the brat's got himself killed or captured it'll be no less than he deserves…_

But no matter how much he griped there was still that small sliver of worry tucked among all the frustration. Even now as that last thought crossed his mind the sudden image of Deidara's torn, bloodied, and lifeless corpse hanging like a gruesome trophy from some village wall wormed it's way into the puppet master's mind, making what little emotion he could still feel twist uncomfortably in his chest. Sasori narrowed his eyes sharply, trying to push the feeling away. But the picture wouldn't leave his mind, and neither would the certainty that Deidara was, indeed, in trouble.

Still, Sasori seethed to himself as he continued to plunge through the curtains of rain. Ever since his parents had died the Suna-nin had worked hard to completely box his emotions away. He had loved his father and mother. When they were killed, it had torn him up inside. But once he worked through his grief, he decided he never wanted to feel pain like that again. Even his young mind had recognized it as a weakness. So from that day on he threw himself completely into his training, distancing himself from everyone around him. Turning his body into a puppet had greatly reduced his ability to feel anything as well. But even though he could no longer physically feel anything, there was still that living core in his chest. The only thing he could do about that was cover the little emotion he still felt with an impenetrable sheet of ice and let no one crack it. And for twenty years, he was successful. Then that stupid little pyromaniac came along. Sasori had honestly disliked Deidara at first, but as they got to know each other better…

Sasori's silent battle with his emotions was raging so hard that he was almost upon the two dark, conversing figures before he suddenly sensed their chakra and slid to a quick and clumsy halt. The movement caused the branch Sasori perched on to tremble violently, the leaves rattling against each other and making their own miniature rain shower. Both hooded figures immediately turned their heads in his direction, but Sasori had already slid back into the shadows where branch met trunk, shrouded by leaves. He cursed his stupidity and now thanked the rain. It was midday, and, had it been sunny, he wouldn't have been able to hide so quickly.

As the two figures continued to stare (or at least Sasori assumed they were; both faces were hidden in the shadow of their cowls) the Suna-nin hurriedly cloaked his chakra, hoping that he hadn't been seen or sensed. A moment later, his wish was granted as the larger of the two figures grunted and said, "Must have been a squirrel or something," before turning back to its companion. The other continued to stare a second longer before the first, a man, snapped "Kaede!" Finally, both hoods turned from Sasori's hiding place, and he sighed before shifting around to move off in a different direction. He didn't like the feel of these people. Besides, his only aim right now was to retrieve Deidara. Judging by the chakra emanating from the mysterious figures, they both at least decently powerful ninja. Sasori didn't feel like getting involved in a fight right now.

The puppet master was about to head off when the man suddenly spoke again and Sasori froze. Maybe it was just because his mind had been preoccupied with Deidara for the past few days, but he could swear the man had just said his partner's name. Then he heard the word "Akatsuki" and promptly decided to stay put a few more moments.

"I know the kid is strong, but your failure to kill him is unacceptable," the man was saying chastisingly. The rain had slowed to a steady drizzle, so Sasori was able to hear him clearly above the light patter. "You and Sorano should have been more than a match for him. And even being forced to summon Akiyama!"

"We underestimated him, Kanaye," the smaller of the two figures spoke. Her voice was low and pleasant, and Sasori immediately distrusted it.

"That is no excuse," the woman's companion responded. "Especially when it was three against one. Even now, you should be making another attempt to kill him. I recall telling you not to report back to me until he was dead."

"We cannot attack him while he is in Konoha, but he can't stay there forever. He will eventually either get away or be killed. If it is the latter, our job will be done anyways, and we needn't worry about him anymore. If, however, he manages to get away, Sorano and I will be ready. No amount of silly explosions will chase us off this time."

Sasori's ears perked up at this. _Konoha_, he thought. _Why would_… The thought trailed off as the man grumbled something under his breath, and the redhead had to strain hard to try and catch the quite mumble. But before he could, the woman snapped scathingly, "I _was not_ going easy on him. I don't care if we were close back in Iwagakure. That was years ago. We no longer have any allegiance to that village or to each other. I want him dead just as much as you do. And I swear to you that I will make sure he is before long."

"I seem to remember you making that same promise before I sent Sorano and you off the first time," the man observed, crossing his arms.

"I told you, we underestimated him," the woman retorted angrily. "You admitted yourself that he was strong, but he is more so than you seem to want to give him credit for. Isn't that why we want him dead in the first place? So he doesn't find out what we're doing and interfere, maybe even ruin our plans entirely?"

"But you ought to be able to match him in power and intelligence," the man said. "You were both hailed as geniuses in Iwa. And you both share the same training as will as the same—"

"Don't you dare compare me to him," the woman hissed venomously enough to make the man stop mid-sentence and take a step backward. "We are nothing alike. Give me another chance, and I will prove to you that I far outrank that…that _child_! I swear it to you again: _He will die!_"

If Sasori had had blood, it would just about be running cold. There was no doubt in his mind that they were talking about Deidara. But why was this strange pair so eager to see the blonde dead? Missing-nin were in danger from village ninja, not fellow deserters as the woman, at least, had insinuated she was. Of course, given Deidara's nature Sasori was sure he'd managed to piss off more than a few people in his still relatively short span of years. But there was bloodlust in this woman's voice. She wanted more than revenge for some stupid prank or ill-placed explosion. However, there was an unspoken rule in Akatsuki that members did not speak about their pasts. Sasori knew very little about his young partner's life before his entrance into the organization. What could Deidara have done to earn this hostility?

Below, the man was silent a moment before he shrugged. "Very well. I'll give you one more chance. But another failure, and you'll be facing Yasuo himself. And he will not be happy."

The woman nodded shortly. "Thank you." The statement contained more sarcasm than gratitude, and the man stiffened angrily. "I will return to Konoha, then." And before her companion could respond, she turned and strode away. The man was still another moment. Although Sasori couldn't see his eyes, he imagined they were boring menacingly into the woman's back. Then he, too, spun about and headed in the opposite direction.

As both sets of footsteps faded away, Sasori still perched on his tree branch, thinking. They had said Deidara was in Konoha. If that was true, there would be little chance of Sasori breaking the kid out on his own. He would need help. But, unfortunately, the man and woman hadn't actually said it was Deidara they were speaking of. Sasori was sure it was, but he would need more than that to convince the Akatsuki's Leader. He would have to go to Konoha himself first, just to make sure.

And then there was the strange meeting that he had just witnessed. It sounded like the pair and their companions, whoever they were, were planning something, something that Deidara would apparently want to stop. The puppet master immediately thought of Akatsuki and their own plan to, basically, take over the world. Would this conversation be something worth mentioning to the Leader? Sasori's eyes lingered on the spot where the cloaked figures had stood. He could swear he still felt a chill aura of evil intent clinging to the very air and ground like a cold, deadly mist. And having been surrounded by S-class criminals for the last twenty years, Sasori knew evil intent. But this was something even more potent than the air surrounding the Akatsuki. He didn't like it.

After a moment, the Suna-nin shook his head. He was probably being paranoid. He'd just been on edge ever since Deidara had disappeared. There were plenty of rogue ninja bands in the world with plans to acquire great power and riches. This one couldn't be any different. And he couldn't waste any time thinking about it. He had to focus on breaking his idiot partner out of one of the world's strongest ninja villages.

Konoha was still two or three days away, shorter if he took a straight path there, but the last thing he wanted was to run into that strange woman who was also heading to the hidden village. Sasori would have to take a longer way around. But it was still another moment before he could tear his eyes from the ground below and focus on the trees ahead, making his feet move towards the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

111

At that same time in said village, completely unaware of his partner's predicament, Deidara was walking alongside Sakura through the main marketplace of Konoha. It was a cool but bright day, exactly the way Deidara liked it—perfect for flying. When he first stepped outside, the missing nin's automatic reaction had been to drop his hand to his side where he carried his pouch. The tongue of his hand-mouth had licked expectantly at the air, surprised and disappointed when it found no clay to devour.

Deidara had pouted silently to himself as he clenched his fists again and crossed his arms. He hated being stuck on the ground like a normal person. He enjoyed the freedom of the open air. Already he missed the feel of the sun and wind on his face, the landscape spreading to the horizon ahead, the occasional death threat from below as he dropped a small bomb near Sasori just to annoy his partner. He had chuckled slightly at this last thought but shook his head when Sakura gave him a questioning look.

Now, Deidara was silent as he and the kunoichi paced past the numerous stalls and vendors. He wasn't too interested in the marketplace anyway—his dream of the other night was still fresh in his mind. And thinking about Sasori had turned his thoughts to the Akatsuki, which was what he was now pondering. Surprisingly, he hadn't thought much about his organization over the past week. There had been too many other things on his mind. But he now found himself wondering what his comrades were doing. There was no doubt they'd realized he was missing by now. As one of the Akatsuki's loudest and most out-going members, his absence would have been noticed quickly. Deidara wondered what they were doing to find him. He had no doubt that they would search him out. It wasn't like they cared about him or anything, but the Leader valued his underlings and their abilities very highly. He would send someone to look for him. But how long would it take them to consider Konoha? Deidara wished he had his clay. He could send a bird out and…

"Hey! Hey, Sakura-chan! What's up?!"

"Oh, no," Sakura muttered, and Deidara saw her face pale slightly out of the corner of his eye before she turned. "Uh…hi Naruto."

Deidara's heart jumped. _The Jinchuuriki!_ he thought as he, too, turned. Sure enough, he recognized the grinning, spiky blonde-haired kid that he had fought only a few months before. To his embarrassment, Deidara felt his stomach clench nervously. This Jinchuuriki had exhibited massive power before, and Deidara was currently weaponless and still recovering from a near fatal attack. If the kid recognized him at all, it could be bad. But he hadn't proved to be very clever. It would hopefully take something major to make him suspicious at all.

But as soon as Naruto approached them, his grin disappeared and he glared hard at Deidara. The Iwa-nin's stomach flipped again before Naruto turned to Sakura. "Hey Sakura-chan, who's _this_?"

Sakura sighed, trying to look frustrated rather than nervous. "He's just my _cousin_, Naruto."

Immediately, the blonde's face brightened again, and Deidara almost laughed. The kid hadn't recognized him at all, he just had a crush on the girl.

"Oh! Ok." Naruto grinned widely at Deidara. "Hi there! My name's Naruto Uzumaki, Number One Ninja, and future Hokage! What's your name?"

"Uh…" Deidara hesitated. Sakura stiffened beside him. "I'm…Rafu Kyoto," he said the first name that came to his mind. It was the name of the street vendor in his dream, and Sakura apparently remembered it as well as she briefly raised an eyebrow at him.

Naruto, however, missed the exchange. "Great! Nice to meet you!" He stuck out his hand, and Deidara had to pause again. Then he slowly reached out and gripped the other's hand lightly, careful to keep his hand mouths tightly shut.

"Er, nice to meet you, too," he said before quickly dropping his hand.

Naruto, completely unfazed, continued to grin like an idiot. "I've never seen you before. Are you visiting Konoha? Where are you from?"

"I'm from…" Deidara gave Sakura a sidelong glance, not recalling the names of any other village in the Land of Fire.

"He's from Sanuki," the kunoichi filled in hurriedly. "And yes, he's visiting. Now if you'll excuse us, we have somewhere to be—"

"Oh, come on Sakura-chan! It's lunch time, why don't we introduce Rafu-san to Ichiraku Ramen? It'll be on me!" The blonde magically produced three coupons for a free meal at the restaurant and waved them in Deidara's face. "Best bowl or ramen you'll ever eat, trust me," he said cheerily. "What do you say, Rafu-san?"

Sakura sighed in frustration. "I told you, Naruto, we have to—" She was cut off again, but this time by a protesting grumble from Deidara's stomach.

The Iwa-nin blushed slightly and bit his lip. "Actually, I am kind of hungry," he said meekly. "It's not _that_ important; we have time for a quick lunch, don't we?" Deidara had decided that the pros outweighed the cons in this situation. If Naruto hadn't recognized him by now, he probably wouldn't any time soon. Spending some time with the Jinchuuriki might be helpful to Akatsuki. This kid had managed to escape capture twice now, once from Itachi and Kisame, and the other from Deidara himself. Any information they could gather on him could aid in his kidnapping. Deidara just hoped Sakura wouldn't catch on to his train of thought…

Sighing again, Sakura shrugged. "Fine. I guess we have time for one bowl."

"Great!" Naruto grabbed the sleeve of Deidara's shirt and began to drag him through the crowded marketplace. "It's this way. Just follow me."

In the second that the blonde latched on to him, another idea came to Deidara. He had just noticed the stall they were standing next to—it was selling pottery. There was no booth, just shelves for the merchandise set up under a tent. The vendor was sitting at a potter's wheel near the front of the tent, not three feet away from Deidara. There was a tub of clay, ready for use, right next to her feet.

As soon as Naruto jerked Deidara forward, he took a clumsy step and allowed his feet to get tangled together. With a yelp, he pin wheeled sideways into the potter's wheel. He heard a surprised yell from the woman and a gasp from Sakura as he completely lost his balance. A sharp pain exploded along the left side of his ribcage as a half-healed wound collided with a hard surface, but Deidara hardly noticed. He threw out a hand with the supposed prime purpose of catching himself, but his hand mouth first snapped open and skimmed across the top of the bucket of clay, snatching up a small glob. The mouth immediately closed again, and next thing Deidara knew he was flat on his back on the dusty ground.

Sakura was shouting something at Naruto as she and the potter knelt to help Deidara up. The Iwa-nin shook off the woman's worried inquiries and apologized for disrupting her work. She smiled and said more damage had probably been done to him than her equipment, and Deidara grinned back as he quickly slipped the stolen clay into his pocket. Then he turned to Sakura who was berating Naruto for his clumsiness. The blonde looked at the older boy dismally. "Sorry, Rafu-san."

Sakura glanced around at Deidara. "You'll have to excuse Naruto. He gets a little overenthusiastic sometimes."

"It's okay, Naruto-san. No harm done," Deidara assured him.

The boy perked up again and grinned a bit. "You still want that ramen, then?" Deidara nodded eagerly, and the trio set off again.

111

Sakura didn't think they could have much more bad luck short of Deidara revealing his true identity to everyone. It was bad enough that they had run into Naruto and were now going to lunch with him. But no sooner had they seated themselves in Ichiraku Ramen then another threesome appeared at the stall as well: Gai's team of Neji Hyuuga, Rock Lee, and Tenten. Sakura groaned inwardly. They had been involved in the mission to save Gaara as well. All three had fought Deidara, and all three were a lot smarter and more perceptive than Naruto. But it was too late now. Naruto was talking rapidly to Deidara about all the different kinds of ramen Ichiraku served, and the Iwa-nin was listening quite intently. It would be too difficult to leave without causing some suspicion. There'd be no getting away inconspicuously. She'd just have to hope for the best. The kunoichi sighed as she turned to the newcomers.

"Hey guys," she said, trying hard to look cheerful.

"Sakura-chan! How are you?" Lee said as enthusiastically as ever, sitting down next to her.

"Hi, Sakura," Tenten followed as she seated herself on Lee's other side. Neji merely nodded at her.

"What have you been up to Sakura-chan? I haven't seen you around for awhile."

She flinched slightly at Lee's question. Of course, she'd been stuck with Deidara for almost a week now and hadn't been anywhere but the hospital and her apartment. "Oh, Tsunade-sama's just been keeping me busy," she said quickly with a shrug. "I haven't had much free time."

"That's too bad," Tenten said. "And the weather's been so nice the last few days. We decided to take a bit of time off from training and enjoy it."

"Hey Bushy Brows! Have you met Sakura's cousin yet?"

Sakura looked around at Naruto and Deidara who had apparently just put their orders in and were now leaning back to see the newcomers around her. The kunoichi thought she saw the barest gleam of recognition in Deidara's ice blue eyes, but it was quickly extinguished and replaced by a huge grin as Naruto took care of introductions. Next second, the missing nin was chatting with Lee and Naruto as if they'd known each other for years. _So much for shy and timid_, Sakura thought as she turned back to the counter and ordered her own ramen. _Oh well. Just as long as he doesn't blow his cover…_

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Sakura jumped at the sudden voice at her shoulder. She was surprised when she saw it was Neji standing behind her and then dismayed when she saw the look in his white eyes. He jerked his head to indicate he wanted to go outside, and they left their oblivious companions to their conversation. Sakura followed Neji nervously. She rarely ever even spoke to the Hyuuga prodigy, and it left little doubt in her mind as to what this was about. A second later, her suspicion was proven right. Once they were out of earshot of anyone around them, Neji turned to her and said, "Would you care to tell me what a member of the Akatsuki is doing sitting in a ramen shop in the middle of Konoha posing as your cousin?"

For perhaps the dozenth time that day, Sakura flinched, feeling uneasy under Neji's piercing gaze. She briefly considered denying any such claim against "Rafu", but almost immediately discarded that idea. There would be no getting a lie like that around Neji.

"It's Tsunade-sama's orders," Sakura said. "He…he was found badly injured just a few miles outside the village last week. Some of our jounin brought him in, now knowing who he was. But Tsunade-sama did, and…she decided to save him." She shook her head at Neji's questioning look. "I don't know why, exactly. She said whoever did it might be a threat to us as well." She didn't say anything about her belief that it was more than that. She'd only seen the Hokage briefly once or twice since they'd gone out into the forest with Hiroshi, and she wasn't able to question her either of those times.

For now, she just stood quietly as Neji contemplated what she'd told him. He said nothing for a minute before he shrugged and just said, "If that's what the Hokage wants. I won't say anything since she apparently doesn't want anybody to know." Then he turned and walked back to Ichiraku.

The others hardly even glanced up as the two reentered the stall, too engrossed in their conversation. Sakura sat back down. Her ramen had been prepared while she talked to Neji, and she dug into the steaming bowl and turned her ear towards what the other were talking about. Somehow, they'd managed to get on the subject of fireworks (undoubtedly Deidara's doing. Sakura had already discovered the Iwa-nin's love for anything loud and colorful).

"You should see the fireworks we have here in Konoha," Lee was saying. "For festivals and stuff. They're all so vibrant and energetic. They remind me of the power of youth!" Tenten shook her head. "Especially the green ones. They're the most youthful of all! What colors do you like Rafu-san?"

"I like red," Deidara chirped up immediately, "because…" he paused. The truth was, he like the red fireworks because they reminded him of the blood that colored many of his own explosions. But that reason probably wouldn't go over well here. "Because I just like red, un..." There was a split second where Deidara almost clapped his hand over his mouth and Sakura froze in the process of scooping up the last of her noodles. Before the pause grew too long, though, Deidara completed the though with "…derwear."

The Iwa-nin immediately turned pink as the others stared at him strangely, and it was all Sakura could do to keep from snorting into her bowl. "Ooooooohkay," Naruto said. "That's kind of an odd reason to like red fireworks, but whatever makes you happy," and the awkward moment passed.

But Sakura couldn't have been happier half an hour later when Naruto and the others had gone their own way and she and Deidara were left alone. They began the walk back to the hospital as silent as they had been earlier that day. At least until Sakura glanced over at her companion and saw that he was grinning broadly.

"Don't tell me you actually enjoyed that?" Sakura said in bemusement.

The smile left Deidara's face at once and he shrugged. "It was better than being stuck up in that crummy hospital room all day with only you for company. And the food was considerably better."

Sakura snorted. "Whatever."

Deidara didn't retort. He was too busy concentrating on the chewing motions of his left hand, the one farthest from Sakura. Before they'd left Ichiraku, he had managed to procure a pen and a napkin and jot down a quit note before anyone noticed. Now the paper had replaced the clay in his pocket, and he worked quickly to mold his chakra into the earthen substance. He would have to send it out before they reached the hospital; he knew there were ANBU with orders to watch his room for any funny activity, so he couldn't risk releasing the bird from there. Now was his only chance. Pretending to stop and look at a booth of colorful trinkets, Deidara spit out the glob of clay and began to mold it out of Sakura's sight. Mere seconds later, a dainty bird sat in his hand. Sakura, who was standing a few feet away, tapping her foot and looking up at the sky distractedly, didn't notice the quick hand seal that brought the bird to life. Deidara wrapped the small wad of napkin in its tail feathers before he sent it off. It was a special kind of sculpture, not made to explode, but to seek. If any Akatsuki were nearby, it would find them. Until then, he'd just have to bide his time in Konoha.

111

A somewhat longer chapter, I guess. Once again, I had to rewrite it several times before I was satisfied. I apologize if anyone in the second part of the chapter seems OOC. I've never written most of them before. I'm also sorry if things seemed to go a little too well for Deidara, but that's just how it turned out. And that's the only real reason that I had Neji recognize him, even though that didn't really affect anything. At least not yet. Sooooooo I hope everyone liked this chapter, I'm sorry for the long wait, and I hope you all read and review!

Spoiler warning to those who aren't up to date with the manga: This chapter is dedicated to Deidara who shall no longer be gracing us with his presence in the manga. He will, however, continue to live on in our hearts and through our fanfics. May he rest in peace. 


	9. Chapter 8

OMG! Just one review short of 200! I've never had that many before. Thanks guys! I greatly appreciate everyone who is reviewing and faving even though I am _horrible_ about updates. I luv you all!!!! Enjoy the next chapter.

One note—a coupla chapters ago, when Deidara was having his dream thing, Rafu called him a thestran. I decided that I really didn't like that word so I went back and changed it. Sorry if that bugs anybody, and I really don't like changing stuff after it's already up, but it just didn't really work. And I'm sure a lot of you don't even remember that anyways, so anyhow the new word is "muketsu." A little more Japanese-ish. Hope no one is too bothered by this!

Chapter 8

In the Land of Contention, the night was dark, the wind was cold, and the air was foul. Rafu Kyoto—the _real_ Rafu Kyoto—was seated beside a small fired in his dank stone house, mindlessly fashioning a clay sculpture between his calloused fingers and staring into the dancing flames on the hearth. Electricity was not a common luxury in this place, so the fire was the only source of light in the night-darkened room. It flickered almost playfully, teasing away the shadows hidden in the many nooks of the rough walls and behind the old pieces of furniture and decoration. The flames froze on the cold window panes however. The homes in Contention could be made warm and inviting enough, but the evil of a chill night such as this couldn't be chased away with a mere fire. The inky blackness beat back the light, leaving the window frosted and cold as ice.

Rafu no longer noticed this desolate phenomena; it was the same every night. This whole set-up was a nightly routine, Rafu sitting in a worn and dirty armchair, facing the fire, back to the window, clay between his rough palms. His mind was never on the work he was doing. Shaping clay was basically what defined his life, and he had a habit of doing if when he was deep in thought. Even now, the nimble digits deftly rolled, smoothed, and molded despite the lack of attention being paid to the task. The lump of earth would come out as something, perhaps something quite good. It always did. The completion of the sculpture would be perfectly synchronized with Rafu's return to the world from the inner depths of his mind. It was funny to see some of the things his hands came up with when his head wasn't on the work.

There was little else to do in this place other than think and sculpt. It wasn't an eventful city. Contention was, for the most part, no more than a stopping point in the path of many nomadic families. There was nothing else the place was good for. The land was rocky, no good for farming. The surrounding forests would possibly provide good timber, but the carnivorous beasts lurking in that gloomy place were so vicious that the wood wasn't worth the risk. The city itself was ugly, all stone due to lack of wood and good clay for brick. Some areas were nicer, like the marketplace where Contention's citizens spent a large portion of their time. But most of the city was dirty and overgrown with moss and ivy. And then there was the castle: a great black monstrosity that loomed over its small domain. The structure was inhabited by a nameless, faceless ruler, a man the people simply called the Gaikotsu, the framework that held contention together but was invisible to the naked eye. He was never seen and never heard, but they knew he was there. The sense of fear he instilled was enough to keep any troublemakers in line.

Basically, there just wasn't anything in Contention worth staying for. Most people just passed through, never staying long or settling down. Oh, what the natives of Contention would give to belong to one of those families! For those born on this land, such as Rafu and his sister, things were different. They couldn't leave. Their family, and numerous others, was bound by blood to the land. The legends, which really were no more than stories as no one knew the truth behind their imprisonment, said that the town's ancestors had been in mortal danger from enemies long ago. The Gaikotsu, or one like him, had come along and promised protection for the people in exchange for their servitude. The town had agreed, and now their descendants suffered, bound to the land, unable to leave the perimeter of Contention's kingdom. They lived, they worked, they slept, they ate. And they thought. That was it. Things were better for the children, still touched by the joy and innocence that was more a part of the outside world. But that naïveté quickly flitted away, and they became the same miserably wise people that their elders were. The bleak land sucked the life and happiness right out of them.

Except for the muketsu. It was this that Rafu was contemplating as he worked his clay and stared down his fire: Deidara, the muketsu who had shown up in Contention only a few days before. He hadn't been unexpected. Rafu had a touch of sight—odd dreams that had a habit of coming true—and he had known the strange boy was going to appear weeks before he did. The vision had been unusually informative as well. It had told Rau the boy's name, age, current affiliation, family, friends, past…oh, his past. What a strange and interesting story that was. Rafu would have doubted its legitimacy if the strange power that granted him these flashes of insight had ever lied to him before. But they never had, and, upon seeing the boy, Rafu had known without a doubt that it was true. Deidara was a muketsu, one of no more than a handful of people in all of history who were born in Contention and managed to escape.

Of course, he had only been a very young child at the time, no more than a baby really. As made apparent by his last visit, he didn't remember his birthplace at all. Rafu's thin lips twisted upwards into a small grin as his green eyes continued to bore, unseeing, into the flaming streamers dancing in the fireplace. The reddish light reflecting off the emerald surfaces made them look wild and excited, almost feral. Life in Contention was so dull. But Deidara's arrival foretold that something was brewing not far in the future, something that would bring a bit of excitement and danger back into this land. A fight, a rebellion, Rafu didn't know exactly what it would be. But a conflict of some kind was looming its black head over the horizon, its eyes glowing red and its snarling mouth spewing flames. Whatever was coming, it was intense, and it would very likely have an affect on much of the world. Maybe even this place would change, and hopefully for the better. But it all depended upon that boy finding his was to Contention. It wasn't an easy place to get to. Rafu would have to find a way to get to Deidara, drop him a few clues. He had hoped the boy would come to Contention through his dreams again without any help. Several days had gone by, though, and he hadn't yet returned. Perhaps he hadn't quite understood the significance of the place.

It had to at least have him wondering, though. Especially with the statue. Rafu's grin widened further and he chuckled slightly. That had to have been a shock. Rafu was no ninja—no one in Contention was—but he had his own useful tricks. Sending the figurine back with Deidara was a definite way to keep that dream in his mind. Akiyama, the Ram Demon, perhaps one of the most powerful entities in the world. That was specifically who his sister, Aiko, had modeled the statue after. It fell short of the demons true glory, but it was accurate enough. Rafu hoped it would somehow prove useful to Deidara. The boy had a long, dark, and certainly dangerous road ahead of him. He could use whatever help he could get.

Rafu was still grinning as his thoughts and his hands began to slow. Enough time had passed that the fire had died down to just a lone flame eating lazily at the few remaining charcoal logs, the ashes beneath glowing red as blood. Everything was dead silent, as it always was his late. The only night sounds ever heard in Contention were the occasional roars and screams as one of the macabre forest beasts fell upon their prey. But right now there was nothing. Slowly, Rafu's mouth pulled back down and he blinked then closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the ratty armchair. He remained that way a moment, listening to the silence and wondering how much longer he would have to bear this oppressive quite. He ran his fingers slowly over the completed sculpture now sitting in his lap. A small smile returned to his lips as his fingertips gently searched the creation. The man knew what it was even before he looked down to see the small ram nested on his leg. It was lying down, its bony legs tucked up under its body as the sightless eyes stared up into Rafu's own. The curved horns were intricately lined to create the same rough texture the real thing had. The rest was just as detailed; one might almost expect the thing to actually spring to life.

Rafu stood, walking to the fire and placing the sculpture carefully near it on the hearth to dry. Behind him, he heard the front door softly click open, and he turned to see Aiko carefully enter the house. She looked pale and nervous, just as everyone did after spending too much time out at night. Rafu scowled at her.

"Ya shouldn't stay out so late, Aiko. It's not good for ya, and _he_ doesn't like it," he said quietly. His eyes, now calm and cool after the violent excitement reflected in them before, watched her gently but sternly.

Aiko shifted as she rubbed at her thinly clad arms in a hopeless attempt to dispel the cold. "I'm sorry, Onii-san," she said apologetically. "But…" Her lower lip trembled and she clutched herself harder. "I…I was down in the marketplace and then I jest suddenly got scared. I don't know why, but I snuck down an alley and 'id. I was there for hours, I was jest so scared." Her eyes started to water. "Onii-san, I think something bad is gonna 'appen."

Rafu sighed and approached his young sister, kneeling down and putting a hand on her shoulder. She was shaking. "We already talked about this, Aiko. Things are going to change 'round here. It may look bad at first, but it's all gonna turn out right. I promise." He smiled at her encouragingly. "We're gonna get away from 'ere. Contention and the Gaikotsu may even be destroyed. You won't be stuck 'ere forever like so many have."

The girl looked at him dully a moment then shook her head. "You're wrong, Onii-san. It won't be good. We're going to be stuck 'ere forever." Then she shoved Rafu's hand off her shoulder and fled to the rickety staircase leading to the second floor. Rafu heard her feet pattering above him briefly then the slam of a door and the squeak of bed springs. He sighed again and slowly rose to his feet. Paranoid little brat. He had seen it. Everything was going to turn out fine.

111

Nearby, standing at an open window in his great castle, the Gaikotsu chuckled when he heard this conversation. Stupid boy. He ought to listen to his sister once in awhile. A thin but strong and deeply tanned hand rose to stroke the black stone of a wall lovingly. This place wasn't going anywhere. It was eternal. These people would remain prisoners forever.

In the forest, far away among the dark trees, something cried out with a warbling, triumphant yell. The Gaikotsu's mouth quirked at the sound of the hunter's successful kill. It was wonderful having that wood right on his doorstep. So much delicious murder went on in there. Turning from the window, the shrouded figure took a deep breath of the musty, metallic air of the pitch-black room. The Kyoto boy was partially right, of course. Something was going to happen soon. The Gaikotsu could sense it even more sharply than Rafu could. And it would be good, but not for the little people in the city below. But for him. The blood, the death, the musical screams of mortal agony. Those were what he lived for, and there had been a deplorable lack for so long…The hidden face emitted another small laugh before the figure moved forward to merge with the darkness surrounding him.

111

It was another sunny day in Konoha, and Tsunade stared wistfully out the window of her office at the crowds enjoying the weather below. She was more than able to go join them. She'd finished all her paperwork and reports, missions had been handed out, and everything else was in perfect order. But the Hokage still couldn't bring herself to be anything more than gloomy and worried. She had spent most of the past week shut in her office, hardly speaking to anyone. Most of that time had been involved in research and reminiscence.

Tsunade's head jerked around from the window when there was a sudden rap at the office door. She hissed under her breath, frustrated at the interruption when she had expressly told no one to disturb her unless it was extremely important. "It's open," she called irritably as she reseated herself at her desk. She was surprised to see Sakura peek around the door, her expression slightly nervous.

"Tsunade-shishou, are you busy? I…I just had something I wanted to ask you."

The older woman almost said no, not really in the mood to talk at that moment. But instead she just sighed and waved her student in. "What is it Sakura?"

The girl stepped quickly through the door and approached the Hokage's desk slowly. She stood still in front of it a moment, fidgeting. Tsunade narrowed her eyes. Sakura was bolder with her than most people dared to be. But she seemed anxious about whatever it was she was about to ask, which meant it was probably about…

"You're wondering about my actions the last couple of days?" Sakura looked up from where she had been twiddling her thumbs and nodded, still tense. "It's just…you've been so reclusive the last week or so. People are starting to get worried. You won't talk to anyone and you always seem so preoccupied. And then there's the whole…Deidara thing." She cocked her head and looked at her teacher reflectively. "Also, when Hiroshi took us out last week, you told me 'not to worry, it's probably nothing.' My guess is that it's _not_ nothing, and I want to know what's going on. There's been so much weird stuff happening lately."

Tsunade shook her head. "I still say it might not be anything to worry about. And even if it is, I don't want to get anyone involved until I know for sure."

The rose-haired kunoichi set her mouth in a firm line and stared at Tsunade determinedly. "I want to know what's going on," she repeated hardly, although she secretly quailed under the sharp glance her master gave her at her defiance. "Does it…does it have something to do with Deidara?"

The Hokage raised an eyebrow. She definitely heard a slight nuance of worry in that question. "Why? Does it matter?" she asked.

Sakura blushed slightly, but turned to try and hide it. "No," she mumbled quickly. "I just wondered if having him here might be dangerous for us."

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and stared at Sakura scrutinizingly for a moment. Then she shrugged. I don't know if he's involved in this or not. He may have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, considering the circumstances, it might be more than just coincidence."

"So that's why you wanted to save him?" Sakura pressed, eager to get some answers. "You already knew something was wrong, didn't you? Before he showed up in the forest?"

Still unhappy about speaking on this subject, Tsunade stared into the girl's inquisitive jade eyes, almost pleading with her to answer the many questions, and with a sigh and a nod the Hokage gave in. "Yes, that's right." She stood and walked back to the window, staring out at the now bright and sunny forest. "I've had suspicions as to the actions of a certain person for awhile now. The attack on Deidara was near conformation of them."

"Near conformation?"

Tsunade fished in her pocket a moment, and then drew out two tarnished pieces of metal. She looked at them a short second, her nose wrinkling in disgust, before walking around the desk to Sakura and handing them to her. "I found one of these in Deidara's clay pouch. It isn't something _they_ would want us to find, so I assume he picked it up on his own. The other was at the site of the attack. I found it when Hiroshi took us."

Sakura studied the two metal pieces closely. They were both in the shaped of a semicircle, and after a moment she realized that both halves fit together to form a disc. It was no more than an inch or two in diameter, and there was a minute hole punched along one edge as if the circular ornament was meant to be threaded on a string. A symbol was etched into the metal surface: a small phoenix, wings spread and tail feathers fluttering behind it in imagined flight. Sakura frowned down at the image. She could feel the same baleful hostility that permeated the air around the strange ram horn that had also been found at the scene of the fight. The bird's empty eyes stared up at her blankly.

"Rebirth," Tsunade said softly, her face downcast. "The group that this person belongs to…it is their reason for existing." Her voice was cold and monotone as she took the two halves of the disc back and returned to her seat again, staring down at the objects. Sakura looked at her curiously. Eventually, Tsunade looked back up at her and sighed.

"When I left Konoha all those years ago, I traveled alone at first. Just moving from town to town, gambling, learning the best ways to skip out on debts. But just a couple of months after I left, I met this man. Kanaye Shimizu." Tsunade gave a small smile as her eyes fogged over with memory. "He was a jounin from Kusagakure, traveling through the town I was staying in on his way back from some mission. Quite a good looking man, too. Tall and handsome, with this long pure silver hair and the most beautiful emerald eyes. Sweet as well. He was only there a few days, but in that short time he made quite an impression on me. I might have pursued him, but…Dan's death was still too recent. So I let him leave and tried to forget.

But, as fate would have it, I happened upon Kanaye again. It was two or three years later, and I was passing through Kusagakure. We just happened to pass on the street, and…well, let's just say that I stayed in Kusagakure for nearly a year after that. I don't think I loved Kanaye—not in the way I had loved Dan, at least—but he was a great man, and he helped me."

Sakura studied her teacher's face carefully. At first, Tsunade's expression was one of blissful reminiscence, but it gradually fell into one of pain and regret. "What happened?" the girl asked quietly after a long pause.

Tsunade's face clouded over and she gripped the two metal semicircles in her hand briefly than angrily tossed them on the desk in front of her. They emitted twin muffled clanks on the layer of paper that cushioned their fall, one turned upside down the other revealing half of the phoenix's face as it stared darkly at the ceiling. They glinted dully in the sunshine streaming through the window.

"They happened," Tsunade deadpanned again. Her face had gone blank. "That image—the phoenix—is the symbol of a criminal organization. Almost a cult, really. They're similar to the Akatsuki in some ways, but much larger, and, from what little I know, possibly much darker. They don't have a name that I'm aware of, but they are headed by a man name Yasuo. Somehow, Kanaye got drawn into this group, and it changed him horribly. He became so distant, hardly speaking, never eating or sleeping. I didn't know about this organization at first. Kanaye brushed off the aberration from his normally cheerful self, saying he just wasn't feeling well. But, although I didn't have much interaction with the other ninja of the village, I knew they were getting worried. I was as well. The change had been so sudden, and had lasted for weeks. Then one night, he just left. He didn't tell anyone and didn't take anything with him. Just left everything as it was and disappeared.

"At first I thought he would come. I figured something had been bothering him the last few weeks and he just needed time alone to think." Tsunade paused again and her eyes hardened. "After two weeks passed and he hadn't returned, I gave up and left. I was afraid the village would find him dead somewhere, and I couldn't take another loss like that. I preferred to imagine him safe and happy somewhere else, even if he wasn't with me. But he wasn't dead, and he did eventually return to me. It was nearly four years later. I was at some insignificant little outpost town. I traveled constantly, and I don't know how he found me. But he just showed up outside my hotel room one night. Shizune was with me by this time, but she was out and never knew of this confrontation.

"I didn't even recognize Kanaye at first. He was wearing a dark green cloak with big black boots, odd clothing for a ninja. His headband was gone. His hair was cut short, and his eyes, once so open and friendly, were now no more than cold, emotionless stone. And he was wearing a necklace." Tsunade indicated the two metal pieces before her. "A disc, with a symbol identical to this one scratched into it. Once I recognized who it was, I was speechless at first. Kanaye just stared at me with those empty green eyes, then he smiled and greeted me."

The woman shuddered, just barely, but Sakura's quick eyes caught it. "That was different too, wasn't it? His voice and his smile?" she questioned.

Tsunade gave a small smile herself and shook her head. "No, actually. That's why it disturbed me so greatly. His smile was the same sarcastic smirk I remembered, his voice just as light and joking. It just wasn't right, those things stuck in such a cold body. But I invited him in anyways, too shocked by his sudden appearance to do anything else. At first he just made small talk. He asked how I'd been, what I'd done after I left Kusagakure. I hardly remember how I answered. Most of it was just a blur. But my head cleared up once he started speaking of the organization he'd joined."

Tsunade's gaze again turned to the broken medallion before her. She reached out and rubbed one slim finger over the carefully crafted bird. "'The phoenix has always been a symbol of new life. A death of the old and worn to clear the way for something new, something greater.' Those were Kanaye's exact words. And this is what his organization is striving for. But not just for one being: they want a full-scale renaissance. The way Kanaye put it, all these people have had hard lives and have all been brought to the conclusion that this world is sullied beyond repair. It is permeated with sin and pain, and it can never be purified again. They believe that the world was born an innocent place, but generations of humans have corrupted it. And the only way to return to that original innocence is by obliterating the world as it is and starting over fresh."

"So they want to destroy the entire world as it is right now?" Sakura pursed her lips as she considered the rather disturbing idea. Then she frowned. "But why did Kanaye tell you all this? It seems kind of odd that someone from a top secret organization would just reveal his plans to an outsider like that."

Looking angry again, Tsunade turned away from her student and said in a growling voice. "He was recruiting me for his group. I had told him of Nawaki and Dan's deaths, of my old teammate, Orochimaru's, betrayal, and of the inimical and heartbroken condition in which I left Konoha. Apparently Kanaye figured things were worse than they were—that I was scarred for life and would never get over these hurts. While those memories did, and still do, cause me pain, it wasn't to the extent that I would turn against the whole world and everything in it. So I just told him that I would think about it, and then I searched out Shizune and left not an hour afterward. Shizune figured I had just gotten into more gambling trouble so I didn't have to explain anything to her. For awhile I was on edge, as Kanaye had already tracked me down once. But, to this day, I haven't seen him again. I've hardly even thought about that whole incident up until last week. Even in all my travels I've heard very little about this organization he joined or their plans to destroy and reform the world."

"That's seems like an almost impossible task," Sakura said. "Annihilate everything? They'd have to get through all the other ninja out there, the Five Great Shinobi Nations, the armies of all the daimyo. How is that possible?"

"It would be a difficult undertaking, surely," Tsunade agreed. "But you have to take into consideration the thousands of jutsus and Kekkai Genkais in the world. You can't place any limits on the ability of ninja you've never seen, met, or fought. If you were to gather the right shinobi, create the most efficient combinations of jutsu, discover some of the most powerful fighters in the world—there's really no telling how much you could accomplish. Look at the Akatsuki. They're only made up of nine shinobi, yet they are one of the most feared and respected criminal organizations currently known in the ninja world. Many larger affiliations couldn't hope to compete with them. So although the goal of this man, Yasuo's, organization seems just short of impossible, we should still consider it a threat. Especially since it looks like they're moving again." Tsunade turned her fierce gaze on Sakura. "Now that you know this, I want you to push Deidara even harder. It is essential we figure out what happened that night he was attacked. It appears he honestly doesn't remember, but—"

"Oh!" Sakura gasped suddenly. "But he did remember something! Or, at least, he thinks he did. It's not that big but…" she shrugged and then preceded to tell the Hokage of Deidara's dream a couple nights before, of the strange land called Contention and the small episode at the end where Deidara had been running from something in a dark wood. After a moment's hesitation, she decided to leave out the part about the ram statue that the Iwa-nin had apparently pulled out of his dream. When she had finished, Tsunade considered a moment then waved her hand almost dismissively.

"I really don't know what to make of that," she said. "This Contention place just sounds like some strange dream world. It may be something to consider though. As for the last part, it may very well be a memory of what happened that night. It doesn't tell us much, but it's a step in the right direction. I believe that is all we have to discuss now. Report back if anything else occurs."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sakura said as she rose and turned to leave. She was just opening the door when the Hokage called her back. Sakura glanced over her shoulder.

Tsunade gave her an apologetic look as she said, "There is one other thing I'd like to ask you. Deidara's really almost healed by now. He doesn't need to be kept in the hospital any longer and his presence is raising many suspicions as it is. And as you have already introduced him to a few people as your cousin…" She trailed off and looked at her pupil pointedly.

Sakura froze as she realized what the woman was implying. "You want him to…stay with me?" she asked, her face stuck between blushing and gaping in horror. "Milady, I don't know if that is such a good—"

"It's an order, Sakura," Tsunade said sharply. "I don't know what else we can do with him. We'll move him out later tonight. None of the hospital staff should be any the wiser."

Sakura took a deep breath, nodded quickly, and left the room. She felt a little shaky as she walked away. This was going to be…interesting.

111

Crappy ending. This chapter was rather painful to write. Too many big blocks of dialogue, not a lot of action. Speaking of which, I just realized that I haven't really had any fighting in this story yet. Sorry about that. Hope I haven't been making this too boring. The good stuff is coming, I promise.

So as for this organization, I'm trying not to make them sound too much like Akatsuki. Pain's goal is to help the world "grow up" or whatever, so hopefully this whole rebirth thing is different enough to get by. This was already kind of the direction I was planning to go in anyway, and I really don't know what else I could do.

Sorry again that the story is moving along so slowly in updates and content. I swear I'll try to make chapters longer so it doesn't end up with 200 of them. Hope everyone enjoyed this regardless of all the above mentioned and any other problems anyone may have, so R and R!!!


	10. Chapter 9

Hey, guys! So I did end up putting a bit of a fight scene in this chapter, but it absolutely _sucks_ so after reading it you might wish I hadn't. I haven't written a whole lot of fights, so hopefully they'll get better as the story goes on. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

In Konoha. Fine for now, but not likely

to get out on my own. Weird stuff going

on. Help would be appreciated.

Deidara

Sasori reread the note several times before allowing himself a brief sigh of relief. The small bird perched on his shoulder ruffled its clay feathers contentedly before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The puppet master wished the bird wasn't only one way, that he could respond and tell Deidara that his note was received and help was coming. But at least he knew the brat was all right. And now he had evidence that his partner was in Konoha.

Tucking the note away, Sasori rose from where he'd been kneeling on a solid oak limb, dusting loose scraps of bark from where they clung to his cloak. But before he could move and farther than that, a sudden buzzing filled his head.

_Sasori_. The puppet master quickly reseated himself, unsurprised. The Akatsuki leader had an uncanny ability of knowing when one of his subordinates wished to speak to him. Although no command had been spoken, the implication was obvious, so Sasori hurriedly closed his eyes and flew through the hand seals to create an aerial projection of himself. There was one disconcerting second where the Suna-nin felt as if he was being jerked at lightning speed through black space before his "feet" hit solid ground. When he reopened his eyes, Sasori was no longer standing in the middle of the forest, but in a dark, cavernous room—one of the bases the Akatsuki used for sealing Bijuu. Pein's own ethereal projection stood only a few feet away, the man's strange eyes surveying his subordinate coolly. Sasori inclined his head, muttering a low "Leader-sama" before waiting quietly for the man to speak.

"You have been gone almost four days," Pein said, immediately getting to the point. "I expected you back by now. What is taking so long?"

Sasori sensed impatience in the man's question. With their plans moving along more quickly than ever, Pein was pushing his minions hard to complete their missions. Sasori had yet to even locate his Bijuu, and he knew the Leader would rather him be out searching. But it was important that the Akatsuki stay at full capacity; finding Deidara was almost as necessary as finding the demon.

"I apologize, Leader—sama," the puppet master said. "I have located Deidara, but I'm afraid it is going to be a while longer. Just before you called me, I found one of his birds with a note. Apparently he is being held in Konoha."

"Konoha?" He didn't sound surprised—he never did—but Sasori could hear the frown in his voice.

"Yes." The Suna-nin paused a moment, knowing Pein would not like his next words. "Admittedly, I will not be able to get him out on my own easily. If anyone else is available to help…" He trailed off as the other man shook his shadowy head.

"It is too dangerous to have too many of us near a village of Konoha's caliber, especially as they are already highly aware of us and our intentions. Deidara would be a huge loss, but he has already completed his mission. We can't risk any more of us."

Sasori's head snapped up. The response didn't surprise him, but that didn't stop the jolt it caused in his stomach. "But, Leader-sama, Deidara has been a strong asset to our organization. He is a powerful and intelligent fighter, and still young enough that he has the potential to become much stronger. We can't just give him up like this!" He stopped suddenly as he realized that he'd been speaking at a near shout, emotion evident in his voice. Pein was looking at him, undoubtedly with a raised eyebrow. Sasori cleared his throat, realizing that he'd always complained about—never complimented on—Deidara to his superior before. "I don't think we should give him up," the Suna-nin repeated, quieter, in his usual monotone. "If he was able to get that message out, then maybe Konoha's security on him is lax for some reason. At least allow me to continue to the village and assess the situation. I won't attempt anything unless I am certain I can get him out with no trouble."

Pein continued to watch the other silently as he considered the situation. After a tense moment (for Sasori, at least), he finally nodded. "Very well. Itachi and Kisame have just completed a mission nearby. I will inform them of your position and allow them to aid you if they wish. Itachi perhaps can use the opportunity to gather more information on his Jinchuuriki. But I will only allow you one more week. If no opportunity to get Deidara out presents itself by then, you will have to return."

Sasori inclined his head again, relief rushing through him. "Thank you Leader-sama. I promise we won't take any unnecessary…" His head snapped up just as Pein announced "There is someone approaching on your side." They were silent a moment, and Sasori could feel a dim echo of chakra approaching his real body. Then Pein said, "Report back in a week. You are dismissed." Sasori nodded before he quickly dematerialized his aerial projection, feeling the same strange pull through blackness before coming back to his body.

He made it just in time, his sharply honed instincts the only thing that saved him from the two shuriken that buried themselves in the oak trunk where his body had sat not a half-second before. Flipping easily to a lower branch, Sasori whipped around and scanned the dense foliage, attempting to find his unexpected assailant. There was nothing for a moment, and then the Suna-nin felt a sudden surge of chakra directly beneath him and once again narrowly avoided a hit as his attacker burst upwards through the limb he had stood upon.

"So you're the one who was spying on us yesterday," a low, feminine voice spoke behind Sasori, and he turned to see a young woman standing upon the splintered knob of the branch that now lay on the forest floor twenty feet below. Although he hadn't seen her face, Sasori immediately recognized the voice and the garb of the girl he had seen the day before. Her hood was pulled back now, revealing a fine, pale face framed by dark auburn hair, a face that would have been quite beautiful if it wasn't set in such a hard, severe expression with eyes flashing like deadly blue fire. The woman's lips pursed as she surveyed the puppet master. "One of the Akatsuki, huh? How ironic. Unfortunate for you though. I suppose I'll have to kill you before you tell anyone what you heard."

"I'd like to see you try," Sasori deadpanned, his own eyes hard as they took in his opponent. He wondered briefly if he should have spoken to Pein about the confrontation he had witnessed. Finding Deidara's note had driven it from his mind. "Kaede, right? That's what the man called you? What was that about yesterday, and what do you want with Deidara?" He didn't like her. It wasn't just her too-perfect voice, her threat against his partner, or her attempt to kill him. There was something sickly evil in this girl's gaze. She gave Sasori a feeling of unease that few ever had before.

The young woman stared at him haughtily a moment, her full mouth pulled down. "I don't believe I have any obligation to inform you about what went on between Kanaye and me. As for dear little Deidara, you can ask him all about it when you see him in the afterlife." Falling into a crouch, Kaede's right hand came up in front of her defensively. Copying her stance, Sasori reached into his cloak to pull loose two summoning scrolls. There was no use playing around with this woman. She was obviously strong.

And incredibly quick, too, as Sasori wasn't even able to summon his puppets before she was upon him. He dodged her strike as her fisted left hand, now wreathed in a strange purple chakra, came at his face. It connected with the trunk of the tree instead. The blow was immediately succeeded by a resounding crash, and the entire top half of the monolithic oak plummeted to the grass, completely severed.

In the resulting cloud of dust and debris, Sasori was able to leap away from Kaede and unwind both scrolls, calling his puppets out to aid him. _Her attacks seem somewhat similar to that brat from Konoha_, he thought as he flung chakra strings out from his fingers to connect to the puppets. _I have to avoid getting hit by a physical attack or it might not end so well for me._

Kaede had stopped again, perched precariously on the jagged trunk she had just obliterated. "Puppets, huh? I guess that would make you Akasuna no Sasori, according to my organization's information on Akatsuki. Deidara's partner as well, if I'm not mistaken."

_Making small talk,_ Sasori though as he watched her carefully. _Her last two attacks were pretty powerful. She must have to recharge a bit between those kinds of strikes._ Without responding to the woman's previous comment, the Suna-nin flicked his fingers forward. One of the puppets flew at his opponent, simultaneously releasing a volley of poison-coated needles. Kaede was quick to dodge out of the way of the needles and then the puppet, not attempting an attack and so reinforcing Sasori's theory that she had to wait at least a short time before striking again.

Sending the second puppet charging forward after the first, Sasori attempted to fence Kaede in against a tree as her escape route forced her to the ground. But she was prepared this time, and when Sasori saw her retreat turn into an assault, her hand raised once again and surrounded with violet flame, he pushed his puppets forward faster, attempting to hit her with one of the kunai grasped in the wooden hands before she could get him. But Kaede's slim body easily slipped beneath the first weapon, and her arm punched upwards so that her first two fingers buried themselves in the cloth covering the puppet's shoulder. A second later, its entire arm exploded. Kaede slipped smoothly out of the path of any shrapnel before turning to meet the second puppet. She caught this one's elbow joint in the palm of her hand, and the same outcome occurred before Sasori could avoid it.

_The weaker attack, the more times she can use it in a row,_ the puppet master reasoned. He leapt to the forest floor himself and pulled his marionettes—each minus an arm—back to him. Kaede stood among the splintered wood and metal, her breathing hardly hitched and her arms crossed. She sneered at him. "Is that really all you've got? The great Sasori of the Red Sand? Quite the overstatement, I would say."

"Overstatement? These aren't even my strongest puppets. If I was going all out you'd be dead right now." _Not quite like the Konoha girl,_ Sasori thought. _She used her chakra as physical strength. This one seems to release her chakra into something and…blow it up._ He frowned slightly. The observation recalled to his attention that the woman had mentioned some sort of relationship with Deidara when they were both still in Iwagakure. _What kind of connection did they have?_ he wondered.

As these thoughts were running through his head, Sasori was sending the first puppet forward again. Armed with a katana it pulled from beneath its cloak this time, it could stay farther out of Kaede's reach. It swung the sword at her head, but Sasori was rewarded with empty air rather than a satisfying spray of blood. Kaede tried for another hit from she crouched, springing upwards under the katana at the puppet's chest. Sasori yanked it out of the way, turning the blade to Kaede's now exposed back. She was too quick again, though, spinning around and kicking the katana away. _Her hand-to-hand combat is quite impressive,_ Sasori thought. _I'll have to try a different approach._ First moving the second puppet back into the shadowy underbrush while the woman was occupied, he then drew the first puppet to a mid-range distance and threw the katana at her. It didn't even come close—as he had expected—but she had evaded the attack in the direction he wanted her to. The second puppet was maneuvered so it was just behind her, not three feet from her back, when it suddenly exploded out of the brush. There was a brief moment where Sasori was sure he had her, where the puppet's poisonous blade was almost in contact with the heavy black material of Kaede's cloak, but then the expression of surprise he had expected appeared as a cold grin. Moving with a speed that Sasori knew could easily rival Itachi's, her fist swung around in a sharp arc and connected solidly with the puppet's chest. The Suna-nin gritted his teeth as he watched one of his prized weapons explode and crumple to the ground, no more than a useless pile of cloth and splinters.

"Hah! You really are pathetic. I would have expected more from a member of the notorious Akatsuki." Kaede smirked at Sasori from above her "kill." Seeing his opportunity, Sasori forgot his ruined puppet and refocused on the first one, snapping its mouth open and sending another shower of venomous needles at his triumphant opponent. He caught her this time, with her back turned and senses clouded by victory. Her face slackened and her blue eyes went wide as the barbs dug deep into her pale skin, the deadly poison immediately taking affect. Sasori breathed a sigh of relief as Kaede collapsed, and the musical symphony of ragged, gasping breaths filled the air.

"Well, that took long enough," Sasori muttered, his irritable and impatient personality taking over. "What did?" the low voice mused directly behind him. "Honestly, you just fell for the oldest trick in the book."

_A substitution jutsu!_ Sasori realized his slip just as Kaede's dying body disappeared with a puff of smoke and was replaced with a pinchusioned log. He whipped around toward her voice, only to be greeted with her violent purple fist coming straight for his chest, aimed almost directly at the vulnerable chakra core that housed his very life. She was already too close, there was no dodging or countering, his puppet was too far away…

Kaede froze, her azure eyes flickering to a point just Sasori's shoulder. Her lips parted in a frustrated snarl and then she suddenly flipped backwards, barely avoiding the huge, bandaged sword that crashed into the ground where she had stood a second before. Sasori blinked in surprise as the large form of Kisame stepped up beside him, swinging Samehada back up to drape it over his shoulder, frowning at the woman who had retreated to a good twenty feet away.

"Who the heck is this, Sasori?" the shark-man questioned.

"Kisame Hoshigaki." He started slightly when Kaede spoke his name. "And if you're here, that must mean…"

Sasori glanced around as he felt Itachi approach on his other side, the young man as silent and unreadable as ever as his blood red eyes stared Kaede down. However, when Sasori looked back to her, she had already averted her eyes to their feet, a slight smirk on her lips.

"Well, this isn't looking too good for me," she said, although she didn't appear perturbed at all. "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not likely to win a fight alone against three Akatsuki. So I guess this is where I will take my leave. Farewell, Akasuna no Sasori. Perhaps the next time we meet, you will prove yourself to be a more worthy opponent."

"Like we'll really let you go that easily," Kisame said. He sprinted forward, Samehada raised to strike.

"Kisame, wait!" Sasori shouted as the shark-man hurtled forward. "You can't get too close! Don't let her touch you!"

But before the Kiri-nin had covered even half the distance between himself and Kaede, she had raised her chakra-enveloped hand and slammed it into another tree. Not only did the trunk snap in half this time, but it seemed as if her chakra ran down the remainder of the stump and into the ground as well. Dirt and rocks blew up in all directions long before the tree impacted the ground, effectively separating Kaede from the three Akatsuki. Blinded by dust and faced with the toppled tree, Kisame was stopped short a second before he swung his great sword downward and smashed the trunk.

Sasori shielded his face against the resultant cloud of debris and wooden shrapnel. When the cloud settled and the Suna-nin could safely lower his hands, he saw that Kisame was left standing alone on the other side of the chaotic mess he and Kaede had created.

"She got away," the shark-man called back over his shoulder.

Sasori raised his eyes to scan the surroundings quickly and, indeed, saw no sign of the strange woman. He felt a sudden, boiling hatred toward Kaede rise unwittingly in his chest. Clenching his fists, he took a deep breath before turning to Itachi.

"You two got here awfully soon," he said, his calm voice not betraying any emotion.

Itachi glanced over at the Suna-nin as his cold eyes faded from red to black. "We were no more than a mile or two from here when Leader-sama contacted us."

"Lucky for you, eh Sasori?" Kisame smirked as he returned to him. "She really had you, man."

Sasori chose to ignore the jest and instead concentrated on returning his remaining puppet to its scroll. The other lay in sad ruin on the forest floor, completely unsalvageable. Itachi followed the redhead's gaze to the destroyed puppet.

"Who was she?" the Uchiha questioned.

Sasori said nothing, not looking at the other as he silently deliberated. After a moment, he simply shrugged. "I have no idea. She attacked me out of no where." He would wait until he spoke to Pein before revealing to anyone else what he really did know. He could feel Itachi studying him, but the Suna-nin kept his gaze firmly locked on his obliterated puppet, and, eventually, the other nodded and said, "All right, then."

"Anyways," Kisame spoke up, "I believe the reason we're really here isn't to save Sasori from random angry women. What's this about Deidara being held in Konoha?"

Turning back to the other team, Sasori produced the note from inside his cloak and handed it to the Kiri-nin. "I received this not too long ago. One of Deidara's birds found me. I don't know any more than what is written here, but he obviously needs help."

Kisame read the note over and then handed it down to his partner. "It is Deidara's handwriting?" Itachi asked as he too scanned the crumpled piece of napkin.

"Definitely," Sasori assured him.

"'Weird stuff going on.'" Kisame frowned. "I wonder what he means by that."

"Perhaps it has some connection to this strange woman who attacked Sasori." The puppet master glanced up at the Uchiha when he said this. Itachi stared back at him steadily for a moment. "They both have a similar chakra pattern. That's all," he stated.

"Hmm." Sasori tried not to appear too interested in that information. "So are you going to help me then?"

"Of course." Kisame grinned toothily at him. "I've always liked Deidara. The kid's fun to have around. We can't just leave him to enemy ninja."

"He is important to the organization," Itachi agreed. "Leader-sama said he gave you a one week time limit. We will do what we can to help you in that time.

Sasori nodded, face emotionless but secretly thankful. Now he'd just have to make sure they didn't have another encounter with Kaede near the village. He didn't think she would attack all three of them, but she had said something the day before about traveling with another woman. He'd just have to try and avoid them if they were still around.

"Very well," the puppet master said out loud. "We are still a little ways from Konoha. We should probably get moving."

The other two nodded, and soon they had completely vacated the area, leaving only a few toppled trees and a huge trench in the earth where Kaede's last attack had blown it apart.

111

"This is a…nice place you have, un," Deidara said, stepping over the threshold into Sakura's apartment uncertainly. The kunoichi walked in behind him, turning to shut the door as the Iwa-nin surveyed the room.

Her place was small and simple. The front entrance opened onto the living room which contained a couch and chair fronted by a coffee table and facing a small television. A bookcase and a few cabinets ranged around the cream colored walls. On the other side of the room, large glass doors revealed a balcony overlooking the village below. The broad doorway on the right led to the kitchen while one on the left gave entrance to a dark hallway. Deidara took it all in in one cursory glance and wrinkled his nose. It was all very plain and dull. He had never been much of one for interior decorating, but the drab room was already strangling his artistic side.

Sakura seemed to pick up on this as she hurriedly said, "I don't spend a lot of time here, so it isn't much. I'm also afraid there's only one bedroom, so you'll have to sleep out here on the couch."

Deidara looked at the cheap, lumpy piece of furniture distastefully. "That's one way to treat a guest," he grumbled as he sat down on the couch and bounced experimentally. It was hard but better than the rough ground he was accustomed to camping out on.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Sakura said sharply, suddenly seeming to become frustrated, as Deidara leaned back against the cushions and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "You're still more a prisoner than anything else." She shoved his booted feet back to the floor roughly, slung her bag in the empty chair, and stomped to the kitchen, grumbling.

Deidara chuckled as he rose to follow her. "Well, I'm glad to see this arrangement is going to work out well, un," he said cheerily, leaning against the doorway and watching Sakura dig through the cupboards violently in pursuit of a snack. His good mood quickly dissipated, though, when his eyes alighted on the ram statue sitting on the kitchen table. Deidara frowned.

"What's that thing doing there," he spat, causing Sakura to look up in surprise at his change of tone. She followed the Iwa-nin's gaze to the mysterious object.

"You wanted me to bring it home, remember? So Tsunade wouldn't see it."

"I mean, why is it just sitting there, out in the open, like it actually belongs there? I expected you to shove it in a drawer or a closet somewhere, not use it as a dining room decoration."

Sakura sighed as she stepped up to the table and looked down at the ceramic statue. "I told you I'm not here a lot. I probably just set it down when I got home and never got around to putting it away." She suddenly turned and breezed past Deidara pack into the living room. The kunoichi pawed through her bag a moment before producing the black ram's horn, quietly slipped from drawer to backpack as they were sneaking Deidara out of the hospital. She returned to the kitchen and placed it beside the figurine, then stepped back to observe them both. "What do they mean?" she muttered to herself. She heard Deidara shift behind her, and turned to see that he had actually taken a step backward, his eyes still on the table's contents. There was a shadow of uncertainty, almost fear, in his normally confident, ice blue gaze. Sakura once again felt that cursed softening in her chest as the criminal revealed his more vulnerable side.

"Are you sure you can't think of any significance they might have?" she asked quietly. "Does just the ram itself have any importance?"

Deidara's eyes turned to her, and he shook his head. "I believe they were once seen as sacred through much of the Land of Earth, un. Something about a god or a demon or something that the native tribes used to worship. But that was hundreds of years ago, and…" he shook his head again "…I don't know how that would relate to any of this."

"Hmm." Sakura looked back to the table, then picked up both the statue and the horn. Opening a cabinet, she shoved both of them inside among the pots and pans, closed the door tightly, and then rose to look at Deidara. "There. Ya happy now?" she asked, hands on her hips. He was still leaning in the doorway, but he wasn't looking at her now. He gazed straight ahead, eyes unfocused and doubt and anxiety once again swimming in the blue depths.

"Yeah, that's fine," he mumbled after a moment.

Sakura sighed again, shaking her head, and moved to pass him into the living room. She stopped a second and impulsively reached out to put a gentle hand on the missing-nin's arm. He turned to her, surprised, but his gaze quickly changed back to the confident, mocking stare she had grown used to. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, and Sakura suddenly realized how beautiful those great orbs really were: clear and cool as an ocean's tide pool, yet also misty with vestiges of pain and suffering that she supposed all ninja eventually acquired. So deceivingly lovely and mysterious. Hiding the evil beneath. At this thought, Sakura dropped her hand and broke their eye contact. "There's nothing wrong with being afraid once in awhile," she muttered before continuing past him. "I'll find you some blankets, then I'm going to bed. The kitchen's there if you're hungry. And you can shower if you want. Extra towels are underneath the sink. Also, always keep in mind that this place is being watched by ANBU now. So no funny business."

Deidara watched her fade into the darkness of the hallway across from him with a mixture of confusion and amusement. The truth was, he really didn't know how to feel about this whole situation. Escape was out of the question—for now at least. He would give time for the Akatsuki to find his note and hopefully formulate their own plan to get him out. And if that didn't happen…he'd just have to see how things played out here. It wasn't like he was being held in a prison cell beaten, starved, and tortured. He could bide his time. Of course, the Iwa-nin hated sitting still. He lived for action, movement, the chaotic beauty of employing his art. But things were getting interesting here.

Pushing away from the wall, Deidara strode back to the couch and plopped down again. Sakura wasn't mistaken in the emotion she had seen in his eyes, though. He was very much afraid. Perhaps even more than the perceptive kunoichi had realized. But the artist _had_ hoped to leave all this behind when he left Iwagakure. As fun as this could be, it was also dangerous, and it brought up all sorts of unwanted memories. Deidara clenched his fists into the couch cushions and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop the parade of images that began to flash through his head. He was supposed to have gotten over all this. He left Iwa to start over, to leave all that pain behind. Working as a freelance terrorist bomber had allowed him to keep himself under the radar for awhile. Those who hired him didn't care who he was as long as he got the job done. And then after a few years, he was recruited for Akatsuki. He hadn't liked it at first—as low as the organization was laying at that time, his name quickly started popping up in bingo books—but he started to see it as an advantage after awhile. It would show _them_ that he had grown strong, that they wouldn't be able to dispose of him easily if they ever decided he should be killed. And he had already proved that once. Although the attack the week before was no more than a dark blur in his memory, there was no doubt in his mind who it was.

"Rebirth," Deidara murmured under his breath, and then laughed quietly. "What a load of bull. They can't even kill _one_ of the corrupters of their perfect little world." He remained where he sat a moment, then shook his head and stood, turning toward the hallway. All that could wait for later. Right now, he needed a shower.

111

So maybe it's just me, but that fight scene at the beginning seemed _sooo_ awkward. It was rather painful for me to write. If anyone has any constructive criticism relating to that, please don't hesitate to share it. And, no, I don't think Sasori would fall for a substitution jutsu that easily, but that's just how it played out. When I write, I just kinda go at it. I need to learn to think things through a little better. Sorry for that.

So although there was a little more action in this chapter, it's still not really moving along. My current problem is that I know where I want to go with this story, but I'm having some trouble getting there. So I apologize for beating around the bush a bit. It'll all come out eventually. Read and review!!!


	11. Chapter 10

So let's run through the drill: I'm really sorry for _another_ excruciatingly long wait, my college plans changed and I moved clear across the country, I'm desperately trying to find a summer job, I'm trying to prepare for college, etc, etc, etc. I know it's getting old, and I apologize. But here's a nice long chapter in an attempt to atone for it! This first part is, again, a little slow and repetitive, but the last part should answer some questions and hopefully get the story moving again. R&R!

Chapter 10

Sakura awoke the morning following Deidara's arrival at her apartment to a sharp tapping sound reverberating in her ears. She grumbled sleepily at first, pulling her pillow over her head to block out the noise as well as the yellow beams of sunlight streaming through her bedroom window. The tapping, soft but incessant, wormed its way through the cloth and down, however, and she eventually gave up and tore the pillow and her blankets off with an angry huff. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, the kunoichi glanced at her clock as she yawned and stretched. It was almost nine. She'd slept in later than she had intended, but she felt better for it. It had been a long time since she had actually awoken feeling rested. And to think that it was the same night that an S-class criminal was slumbering in the next room over!

Speaking of which, the tapping was still echoing around her room, the sound coming from the living room and therefore leading Sakura to believe that the source was Deidara. "What on earth is he doing?" she muttered, squinting at her half-open door. Pushing off the bed, the girl quietly padded out to the hall, her footsteps muffled by the thick carpet. She was rubbing her eyes as she stepped out into the bright living room and glanced at the couch. Deidara was already awake and sitting upright, hair hanging loose around his face and bright eyes fixated on the wall in front of him. His fingers were drumming quickly on the coffee table, nails clicking on the wood and creating the noise that had woken Sakura.

He looked around at her when she stepped in, and Sakura saw that he looked rather agitated. "This is killing me, un," the Iwa-nin said, lifting his restless hand to point at the empty wall.

"What?" Sakura stared at him blearily, still half-asleep.

"_That_," Deidara said. "I've been staring at that painfully blank wall all night, and it is driving me crazy, un. If I'm going to be sleeping here every night for who knows how long, I need to do _something_ to it. To this whole room. I've been in shitty inns more interesting than this. Just some paint or clay or―"

"Oh, no," Sakura said around a yawn. "No clay. And I don't have anything else 'artisty' so you'll just have to live with it. Besides, I thought your art was explosions or whatever."

"_True_ art is explosions," Deidara corrected her rather haughtily. "But anything is better than _this_, un," he said, indicating the wall again.

Sakura just stared at him a second, then shook her head. "Whatever," she said. "And quit with the 'uns'. We don't need another slip up. It's better if you just stop it all together." She turned away and headed for the kitchen. "You drink tea?"

After muttering something about "uncultured Philistines" and "incurable habits," Deidara stood up and stretched, groaning a "sure" in answer to Sakura's question. Looking back at him, the kunoichi only then realized that he had slept in the same clothes she had given him the other day. "We'll have to get you some more stuff to wear," she called back over her shoulder as she pulled out a teapot. She looked around at the Iwa-nin as he entered the kitchen, her eyes skimming down his slim frame. "You're about Neji's size," she mused. "Perhaps he can lend you some clothes."

"The Hyuuga guy? Why him?"

"He knows who you are," she said. "Figured it out when we were at Ichiraku the other day. Everyone else still knows you as my cousin. We won't have to make up some story about why you have no clothing if we ask Neji."

Deidara wrinkled his nose as he sat at the dining room table and watched Sakura as she went about preparing the tea. "He knows? How?"

Sakura shrugged. "It's Neji." She set the pot on the stove then looked around at Deidara. "I'm not much of a cook, so just get what you want."

A few minutes later, they were both sitting at the table, eating and sipping at their tea quietly. Sakura noticed that Deidara's eyes occasionally wandered over to the cabinet where she had stored the ram horn and statue. Then they'd quickly return to his bowl of cereal for a moment before ghosting right back to the cupboard. After watching this cycle recur a couple of times, Sakura finally voiced the subject they were both thinking about. "I think I should take you to talk to the Hokage today." Deidara glanced up at her. Sakura toyed with her half-eaten bagel as she said, "she told me something the other day…I think it maybe you should hear it too, if she'll tell you. And you, in turn, should tell her about your dream. I already told her some, but I think she should hear it directly from you."

"Did you tell her about the―?"

"I didn't say anything about the statue," Sakura interrupted, before giving Deidara a stern look. "But she _should_ know."

The Iwa-nin made a sour face to which Sakura sighed. "Look, I know you don't like her, but if we can get over the fact that we're _enemies_ to figure out what's happening here, then I think you can put aside simple dislike. Tsunade knows some things that may be pertinent to finding out what's going on. If you two put your heads together, maybe we can come up with something."

"I don't remember ever actually agreeing to help you," Deidara mumbled.

"Would you prefer we forget about this whole business, then, and treat you like we ought to treat an Akatsuki prisoner? Throw you in a dungeon, turn you over to the interrogators, all that stuff?"

"Well, isn't that what you're going to do to me eventually anyways?" Deidara retorted. "What if all this turns out to be nothing? Just paranoia and misplaced suspicion? And even if it is something, what happens when it's all over? Then I will be a normal prisoner. Why postpone the inevitable just to make your lived easier?"

"Because you're as much involved in this as we are." Sakura sighed again, putting down her half-eaten breakfast and leaning back in her chair. "Look, the Hokage seems certain that this is important and likely dangerous. And after hearing her story, I think so, too." She glanced across the table at Deidara, who had also pushed back into his chair and was sitting with his arms crossed and face glowering. "And I also think she will make some sort of deal with you," Sakura continued. "If you help us. Obviously we can't just let you go free, but…I'm sure we can come up with something that won't end in death or torture for you." The Iwa-nin huffed and turned his face away from her, frowning. Sakura leaned forward again to study him contemplatively, elbows resting on the table and chin in her hands. "How much _do_ you know, Deidara? We've never really got past talking about that night you were attacked. Do you know anything else that might relate to it?"

He looked at her briefly before turning his gaze away. "I have a suspicion," he ceded.

A moment of quiet passed. "And…" Sakura prodded when he didn't continue.

Deidara's eyes turned down to the floor and his hands tightened into fists. "And if what you Hokage has to say correlates with what I know, then, yes, I am very much involved in it, and yes, it is very dangerous."

"If you knew something else why didn't you mention it?"

"Like I said, I never agreed to help you. Everything up until now has just kind of happened. Besides, I really didn't consider it until recently."

"Did you remember something else about the night you were attacked?"

Deidara shook his head. "No. I just…I started thinking about the last time I was that scared, like I was in my dream. Thinking about the _person_ who caused that fear. I guess it's really no more than a hunch, but still…"

Both were silent a moment before Sakura rose. "Very well," she said. "We'll talk more about it later. Hurry and finish eating. We'll go by Neji's, then go talk to Tsunade."

111

Sorano watched from a windowsill above as Deidara and the girl left the apartment building. Her beady sparrow's eyes watched them pass below. The kunoichi had that bag slung over her shoulder again. Carrying the ram's horn and statue, Sorano didn't doubt. The appearance of that statue was the only thing of interest that had happened over the last week. Sorano had been surprised to see the sculpture when she had first caught sight of it through the girl's kitchen window. She hadn't seen where it came from as she couldn't hang around twenty-four hours a day. But she didn't think it was a coincidence. Unfortunately, Sorano hadn't yet been in a position where she could hear any of the conversations that she spied on, and she had no idea what they might have figured out by now. She just wished Kaede would get back so they could find a way to kill Deidara and get all this over with. And the girl. They would have to dispose of her, too. She had become too involved with the Iwa-nin.

As if in answer to her thoughts, Sorano suddenly felt a small, familiar twinge in the air and immediately recognized it as Kaede's chakra. It was still faint, but quickly growing stronger. Approaching.

_Finally_, Sorano thought. The two young ninja were disappearing down the road, and she watched them only a second longer before taking wing. She would have to leave them alone for a bit. Right now it was more important to rendezvous with Kaede, find out what Kanaye had said, and then decide where to go from there.

Not half an hour later, the small bird dipped down into the trees, having finally located her fellow kunoichi. Kaede had sensed Sorano's approach as well—minute as it was in her sparrow form—and was looking upward expectantly as the other flitted below the leafy canopy. Sorano wasted no time in alighting beside the other woman on the forest floor and lifting the transformation jutsu.

"Took you long enough," the taller woman muttered as she adjusted her robes and then glared at her partner. "I expected you back a day or two ago."

"I got side-tracked," Kaede retorted. She looked angry. "Three of the Akatsuki—Akasuna no Sasori, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Itachi Uchiha—have been sent to retrieve Deidara. Kanaye is…_allowing_ us another chance to take care of him. We need to do it soon, today or tomorrow if the opportunity presents itself."

Sorano frowned at the other's vehemence. "And if it doesn't?"

"Then we'll have to make it." Kaede spun around from the other woman and stared into the forest eyes burning. "I just want to have that little bastard out of the way before he causes us any more trouble."

"They don't seem to be aware of us. This _is_ urgent, but I don't see any reason for you to be―"

"And now we have the rest of the Akatsuki to worry about, too. Sasori overheard Kanaye and mine conversation. We can't afford to be on their radar yet. If he reports anything back to their leader…"

She trailed off. Sorano raised an eyebrow at the turned back, uncertain of what to say. After a moment she ventured, "Ok, then. I can go back to the village, try and find some way to get at him. He's staying with one of the Konoha shinobi now, but they seem to have left for the day. Perhaps I can find some way to get inside the apartment, wait until tonight―"

"But _I_ want to do it," Kaede interjected again, her tone changing from anger to one bordering on petulance. "We need to get him into the forest, ambush him, quickly so he can't sense us and fight back like last time, and then if I can just get a hold of his scrawny little throat, it'll all be over." Her blue eyes gleamed like a feral cat's as the last statement left her lips.

"Well, if it's possible," Sorano responded. "But I don't see them allowing him to leave the village. And even if they did, he'd be guarded."

"Whatever," Kaede snapped after a brief pause. "Go back and do what you can. But if anything comes up that would allow me to get him, he's mine!"

"Right, right, I get ya," Sorano said. "Chill. It shouldn't matter who kills him as long as he dies. But if it's possible for you to do it, I'll stay clear." Kaede didn't respond, so the other just shrugged and brought her arms up in a hand sign. "All right. See you in a bit, then."

Seconds later, the sparrow lifted towards the underside of the leaves above and disappeared inside the emerald ceiling. Kaede watched her go before sighing and raising a hand to rub her forehead. She would have to apologize to Sorano later. In the years they'd been working together, the other kunoichi—an outcast from the Hidden Waterfall Village—had become accustomed to Kaede's bursts of sometimes irrational temper, but she still felt somewhat bad when it happened. But the need to get rid of Deidara was becoming more urgent to her. Not only to the organization she had pledged herself to and to their goal to annihilate the current world and start it anew, but to her personally. 

She risked her life once to save the brat. Later, it turned out that it would have been better for both of them if she hadn't.

Now she was stuck hunting down the little mutant who had turned out to become no more than a common criminal working for a power-hungry band of lowlifes. If she just hadn't brought him with her in the first place, or had left him to that thing in the dark forest beyond, she could now be attending to more important matter and he may not have become a petty thief and murderer, as well as the one Yasuo claimed could but a stop to their goal of rebirth.

At this thought, Kaede raised her hand to her neck, fingering the necklace that had once been ornamented with a small metal disc inscribed with a phoenix. She had told neither Sorano nor Kanaye of the things disappearance. She and Sorano both normally wore these adornments tucked inside their cloaks so as not to be marked by those few who knew who they were. Subsequently, its absence hadn't gone noticed by any but her, and she felt no need to mention it as they were already in enough trouble for not killing Deidara the first time. It probably wasn't important anyways. Even if someone were to pick it up, there were few who knew what it meant.

Resigned to waiting for Sorano's return, Kaede sat herself at the base of a tree, leaning her head back against the rough bark and closing her eyes. All she could really do was hope that they succeeded in their plans and turned this shithole of a world into something better. No more pain, no more sadness, and no more stupid little kids who betrayed those who cared about them, diving right into the rat's nest that sullied this once-perfect world.

111

"Well, at least _someone_ in this village has decent taste," Deidara said, glancing sidelong at Sakura as he surveyed Neji's room. "Are those actually paintings I see?"

"I don't see what you'd know about 'decent taste' anyways, considering the slimy pit you probably crawled out of," Sakura retorted.

"Well, of course I would," Deidara said in mock surprise. "Didn't you know that 'good taste' would consist of corpses and cobwebs decorating the room?"

Neji sighed as he pulled another shirt from his closet and slung it across his arm. The pair had arrived less than five minutes before, and he was already annoyed with their squabbling. Just like an old married couple.

"Heeeeey, Neji-san? Sakura says her place is so plain and boring because she doesn't spend much time there. But I doubt you spend much more time at home than she does, so I don't think that's a legitimate excuse, do you?"

Neji glanced around at Deidara, whose face was grinning and impish, and shrugged. "I could really care less."

"Oh, come on! Just yes or no, it's an easy question."

"You live to annoy people, don't you?" Sakura said, giving the Iwa-nin an exasperated look.

Deidara laughed. "Imagine how Sasori-no-danna feels. He's had to put up with this 24/7 for the last few years."

"I'd almost go so far as to say I feel sorry for him," Sakura muttered. She looked around at Deidara when he didn't retort. She was surprised to see he looked rather unhappy.

"Yeah, whatever," the Iwa-nin said. Sakura raised a confused eyebrow. "Ok, well, I think I'm going to wait outside, Neji, if you don't mind," she said. "I've had to put up with enough of his sarcasm and mood swings over the last couple of days."

"Fine. It'll just take another minute."

When Neji turned around, Sakura was gone and Deidara was left leaning against the wall. His moody expression was the complete antithesis of the one he'd been wearing a moment before. Neji frowned before reflecting on what the other had just said.

"Sasori is your partner?" Neji asked as he crossed to the other ninja.

Deidara glanced up at him. "Yeah. So?"

"You miss him," the Hyuuga said. "Here." He shoved the clothes into the Iwa-nin's arms.

Deidara raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you feel the need to mention that?"

Neji shrugged. "I guess it just surprises me, you being an S-class criminal and all."

"Oh." Deidara looked away. "It's just that…I guess I've gotten used to him being there to help me out of…situations." He glanced at Neji sharply. "That's all. It's not like we're close or anything, so don't go getting the wrong idea."

Neji nodded. "I was just curious. The bathroom's down the hall if you want to change."

"Yeah, thanks," Deidara mumbled before turning to go.

When he re-emerged a few minutes later in a new, clean outfit, he saw that Sakura was back and talking quietly to Neji down the hall. She looked tense, and glanced over quickly when the bathroom door clicked open. Deidara was surprised to see Tonton was 

standing at the kunoichi's feet. The pig snuffled happily when she saw the Iwa-nin and trotted over, oinking up at him in greeting. Deidara bent to scratch her ears but kept his eyes on the other two ninja.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Shizune just came by," Sakura said. "Tsunade-sama wants the three of us to come to her office right away. Apparently, a couple of the Akatsuki have been spotted nearby."

Deidara's heart leaped in both surprise and excitement. He hadn't really expected such a fast response to his message. But this was quickly overwritten with feelings of uncertainty. He had hoped to gauge out the situation in Konoha a bit more, speak to Tsunade about it, as much as he didn't want to. It had never consciously occurred to him until the second after Sakura's announcement, but he was seriously considering remaining in Konoha until he had seen this business through. As much as he truly did want to see Sasori and the others again (he could barely even admit it to himself, let alone to someone else), their sudden appearance made things even more complicated.

"Deidara?" Sakura said as she watched the boy's expression rapidly go from shocked and happy to unsure. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah," the Iwa-nin said walking towards the other two without looking at them. "I guess we should go then." He passed hurriedly, heading for the door. Neji and Sakura exchanged a quick look before following.

111

Tsunade was standing at an open window in her office, Shizune off to one side, when Sakura, Neji, and Deidara entered. The Hokage turned sharply when the trio came in, and her hazel eyes glared at Deidara. "You said they didn't know where you were," she accused. "You said you left without telling any of the rest of them. There's no way they should have found you this quickly."

Deidara flinched, recalling that he had indeed said that on one of his first days here. The recoil didn't go unnoticed by Tsunade who narrowed her eyes even farther. "So either you were lying or you were able to contact them."

There was a moment of silence. "I was able to get a message out," Deidara finally muttered.

"What?" Sakura looked at him in surprise. "When were you able to―?" Then her mouth opened in an "O" and comprehension dawned on her face. "When we were out the other day." Her eyebrows suddenly turned down angrily. "You fell into that potter's wheel. And she had a tub of clay sitting right at her feet!"

Deidara nodded, quailing slightly under the furious scrutiny he was receiving from both Tsunade and Sakura. But he said stoutly, "Well, what else would you expect me to do? It's natural for a prisoner to try and break out. Did you _think_ I was just going to sit here complacently?"

"If the situation was different, I'd kill you right now," Tsunade grumbled as she sat down in her chair. "The last thing we need to put up with is more deranged lunatics."

Deidara huffed. "So what now? I guess I really will be getting that lovely jail cell," he said to Sakura.

Sakura spared him a look before directing her attention to the Hokage. "What _are_ we going to do Tsunade-sama? And how did you know they were here in the first place?"

"One of the gate guards reported that a genin had been out in the forest training and saw three people in black cloaks with red clouds. How she got away without them noticing her, I don't know, but since Deidara has admitted to contacting the Akatsuki, I am inclined to believe her. As for what to do about it…" She looked up at the three facing her across the desk. Sakura saw that she was uncertain as to how to proceed with this. "We have to assume that they are here for Deidara. But we certainly can't just hand him over, but we can't have them sneaking around trying to break him out, either."

"Can't you just send the ANBU?" Neji asked.

Tsunade shook her head. "You are not aware of the whole situation surrounding Deidara's being here, Neji, but let's just say that we need his cooperation. I don't think he'll be so willing to give it if we kill his companions."

"Then why did you bring him here in the first place?" Sakura said. "You could have just set the ANBU on them when you first heard, and Deidara would have been none the wiser."

"And if one of the Akatsuki accused us of holding one of their members? We don't need the ANBU to know one of them is in the village."

Deidara was only half-listening to the others. He was silently staring at his feet, contemplating his choices. He would certainly feel safer with the Akatsuki, his comrades of five years now. But…

"Rebirth," he said quietly during a break in the conversation. The Hokage jerked her head up to look at him in surprise. He brought up his own head so that their eyes met. "The ones who want to destroy this oh-so-horrible world and begin again, according to their rules. Their definition of perfection. That's who you suspect, isn't it?"

Tsunade stared at him before nodding slowly. Deidara let out a rattling breath before squeezing his eyes shut and nodding himself. "Ok, then. I have a proposition for you. 

Let me go out and talk to the Akatsuki. If there are three of them, I would imagine it's one of the other teams and my own partner. He, at least, will at least listen to me. If I can explain the situation, and…and tell them that I want to remain here for now…" He shrugged. "Just let me go talk to them and I give you my word that I will tell you what I know and help in whatever way I can."

Sakura looked at Deidara in surprise. She could see the same fear on his face that had been there the previous night, but there was also that sure confidence that she had grown used to seeing in him. His eyes were on Tsunade's again, honest and hard, and, although Sakura could clearly remember the Iwa-nin telling them that honor was no part of his ninja code, she had no doubt that he was going to stick to his promise.

She glanced at Tsunade then to see a small smile playing at her teacher's lips. "And in return for you help? You know we can't just return you to the Akatsuki when this is all over," she said, her voice curious.

Deidara's gaze never wavered. "I don't care what you do with me when this is over. But that Rebirth organization is the primary reason that I left Iwagakure, that I became a terrorist and criminal. The reason my life has been so violent and painful. I want nothing more than to throw all that pain right back at them. Perhaps I'll die in the attempt and then be out of your hair for good. I really don't care, just so long as I get the chance to take a good few of _them_ with me."

There was a moment of silence following this. Then Tsunade nodded. "I had rather thought this thing with the Akatsuki might come to a direct confrontation. So, yes Deidara, I accept your proposal." She rose and walked around the desk, hands on her hips. "Sakura, Neji, and I will accompany you but stay back while you speak to them. However, although after that little speech I don't have so much reason to doubt you, I do want to take one precaution in case you decide to get funny. Neji, my primary reason for calling you being here is so you can use your eight trigrams technique to block Deidara's chakra flow. Just so he can't turn on us."

"Whaaaat?" Deidara whined, not taking long to revert back to his usual personality. "There are extremely dangerous people out there trying to kill me, and you're going to send me out there entirely defenseless?!"

"We'll be right there. And besides, the chance of any of those Rebirth members attacking six completely able shinobi are pretty slim. If any of them are around at all."

"What if there's _a lot_ of―?"

"Those are the conditions, Deidara. Otherwise, we can just stay here, and I _will_ set the entire ANBU on the three Akatsuki out there.

111

Of course, that latter option was precisely what Sorano had expected to occur. Risking herself by posing as a young Konoha ninja and squealing on the three intruders who had Kaede so worked up had been done with the intention of getting rid of the Akatsuki members. Without it ever reaching Deidara's ears. Whether this development was good or not, Sorano couldn't decide. It would get the brat out into the forest, but he would—as Sorano had warned her companion—be guarded. But there was still a chance. Sorano was just glad that the Hokage had opted to open her window to the warm, sunny day, therefore allowing her to listen in as her small sparrow body basked on the warm ledge outside.

When the Hokage told the rest to be prepared to leave within half-an-hour, Sorano immediately rose and took wing. She had to speak to Kaede before their prey entered the forest. The other woman was given to impulsive action, but less likely so when they had a plan. They had to come up with something or she was going to get them into trouble.

111

Sasori, Itachi, and Kisame had arrived in the forest immediately surrounding Konoha not long after Kaede. They had stopped briefly to rest, eat, and tinker away at a couple of ideas on how to locate Deidara. No brilliant plan presented itself, though. But, just as Kisame made the remark that it would be so much easier if Deidara could just break himself out and come to them, all three suddenly fell silent and turned simultaneously as they sensed someone approaching.

They shared a glance. They had thought they stopped far enough away from the village and the main road that no one would come upon them. Sasori rose and drew a kunai, swiftly moving in the direction the presence was approaching from. He heard soft footsteps from behind an especially thick copse of trees and backed into the shadow of the trunks. The puppet master wondered if it was Kaede again, hoped that it was only an unfortunate villager. The footsteps started to round the trees and Sasori tensed as he waited for the intruder to appear, Itachi and Kisame both nearby but out of sight. A second later he saw the toe of a shoe and a swing of brown hair—far too dark to be Kaede's auburn—and Sasori leapt around the tree with his kunai brandished, determined to take the intruder out quickly and quietly.

"Hey! Sasori-no-danna, wait! It's me, it's me!"

"Deidara?" Sasori remained where he was a moment, poised to strike, before he realized that it was, indeed, his young partner.

"What? No way," he heard Kisame say from behind him. The shark-nin appeared to Sasori's left and laughed. "Well, whaddya know! What happened to your hair, kid?"

"It's a long story," Deidara said, shoving Sasori's arm away so the knife was out of his face. "You got my message, then?"

"Yes," the puppet master said, still stunned by his partner's sudden appearance. He looked the boy up and down quickly just to be sure he was really standing there, alive and healthy. "What's going on here, Deidara? Why were you in Konoha? How did you get out? And what's this 'strange stuff going on' about?"

"And would you care to tell us who the other people with you are?" Itachi added as he scanned the woods behind Deidara.

"Well, you didn't expect Konoha to just let me go for a walk in the forest on my own, did you?"

"What?" Sasori said with a frown. "You mean you didn't escape?"

Deidara sighed, looking away from his partner. "No. Look, it's…it's kind of complicated. Can we just sit somewhere and talk for a bit?"

The Iwa-nin was now trying desperately to avoid eye contact, causing the other three to look at each other in confusion. Sasori didn't know how to respond to the kid's strange actions. He had expected him to be at least somewhat glad to see them, and grateful that they had come. Instead he just seemed sad. "This isn't a trap, is it?" the puppet master asked, confused over his partner's strange behavior.

Deidara looked up quickly at this and immediately shook his head, his eyes now looking wide and hurt. "No! Of course not! I would never do that to you, Danna. There are only three others with me, and…seriously I just need to talk―."

"When they come out," Itachi said. "We won't converse with three enemy ninja hiding nearby."

Deidara hesitated then glanced back over his shoulder. After a moment, Tsunade stepped out of the underbrush, closely followed by Neji and Sakura emerging a bit to either side. Sasori narrowed his eyes when he recognized the pink-haired kunoichi he had fought not so long before. She gave him a brief glare as well before turning her eyes to Tsunade as the Hokage spoke.

"All right, Itachi Uchiha, here we are. Now will you speak?"

Kisame growled and reached back to grip Samaheda's hilt. The three Konoha shinobi tensed.

"Wait, Kisame! Don't!" Deidara gasped. He hadn't expected this to be easy, but he had hoped they would at least listen…

"If you attack, we can have the ANBU out here in a flash," Tsunade said sharply. "We're not here to fight."

Kisame's hand didn't move from his sword, though, and Itachi had activated his Sharingan. Deidara looked back to see both Sakura and Neji take fighting stances before he turned to Sasori, his eyes pleading. The redhead took in his partner's ill, nervous expression and sighed. He raised a hand to Itachi and Kisame. "There's no point in starting a fight. Let's at least see what this is about first." He looked at the Iwa-nin imploringly. "Deidara?"

111

Kaede had responded to Sorano's news exactly as the latter had predicted. It was all she could do to keep her headstrong partner from taking off right then and there.

"We have to get to them before they meet up with the Akatsuki," Kaede argued, shaking Sorano's restraining hand from her shoulder. "They aren't expecting an attack, so we can just take out Deidara and that girl and move on before the other two can even respond!"

"You did hear me say that the Hokage is one of those other two, right? Do you really expect to be able to get by her that easily? Besides, she suspects us now. Probably even more so now that Deidara has told of his same suspicion. We need to relay that back to Kanaye as soon as possible!"

"Our original mission was to kill Deidara, and I intend to complete it," Kaede fairly snarled. "And we couldn't possibly find a better time to do it. Not only is he being taken out of the village, but his chakra's been blocked. And how hard do you think Konoha ninja are going to try and protect him?"

"If Tsunade is as aware of our organization as she seems to be and Deidara has offered to help in whatever way he can, she might try pretty hard."

Kaede didn't respond, but instead lowered her head and took a deep breath. "Ok," she said after a moment. "You're right. But one thing I will say of Deidara is that he is a fighter, and a strong one, at that. I really think this could be our best opportunity to take him out. So, let's just find them and scope out the situation, Ok?"

Sorano considered a moment before giving in. "All right. Just don't do anything stupid."

Half an hour later, Sorano began to regret ceding to the other woman's wishes when Kaede suddenly froze upon a branch, her lips peeling back in a murderous grin. "They're just up ahead," she announced gleefully. Then her smirked melted into a frown. "Damn. The Akatsuki are there, too."

"Kaede!" Sorano hissed as the other began to move forward again, slowly but purposefully.

"Just to scope it out," Kaede assured her. Sorano shook her head but followed cautiously. After another few minutes, Kaede stopped again. Sorano caught up quickly and followed the other kunoichi's gaze. On the forest floor, just a bit ahead of them, she saw the three Akatsuki and three Konoha shinobi facing each other, with Deidara caught quite miserably in the middle. From the tense postures of the first six, Sorano guessed that things weren't going as well as Tsunade and Deidara had hoped.

"I could be down there with my hands around his neck in less than a second," Kaede was saying, as much to herself as Sorano. "Then his head would get blown sky-high, and we're gone before they're any the wiser!"

"I don't think―," Sorano began, but Kaede was already moving. "Crap."

111

If the attack had been much faster, everything could have ended right there.

As Deidara was about to speak again, Sasori suddenly felt a familiar surge of chakra and caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. He knew who it was immediately.

"Watch out!" he shouted to the others as he grabbed Deidara's arm and quickly pulled him out of the line of fire. There was a brief flurry of confusion as something dark and quick flew across the puppeteer's line of vision, and then the copse of trees Deidara had first appeared around—had still been standing next to—blew up. Sasori leapt away from the explosion, still dragging Deidara with him. He saw Itachi and Kisame, as well as the three Konoha shinobi, do the same. All looked at the smoking mess in confusion.

There was a second when Sasori couldn't see anything in the wreckage. Then he tightened his grip on Deidara's arm and pulled his partner behind him protectively as he recognized Kaede's slim form emerging from the smog. She stopped once she had cleared the billowing dust and surveyed the seven other shinobi coolly. Sasori heard Deidara gasp, and turned to look at the boy. His eyes were wider than ever and his face had drained completely of blood. Sasori could feel the arm he grasped begin to shake. "Kaede?" the Iwa-nin said, his voice as tremulous as his limbs. Sasori looked back to the strange woman. Her eyes were now trained solely on Deidara, her red lips curved upward in a demonic smirk.

"Hello, little brother."

111

OMG, I bet no one _ever_ saw that last part coming! (And if you really didn't, then I'm just underestimating my writing skills and don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence.) But, hey, I just got fourteen pages on Microsoft Word for this chapter! None of my other 

ones have made it past ten. So everyone enjoy! No promises on the next chapter, but I'll try to get it out as soon as possible.


	12. Chapter 11

So I _finally_ got a job and finished almost all of my college preparations. Unfortunately, my summer's now over halfway done. But I'll try to get as much written as possible in these last couple of weeks. Thanks to everyone who is still sticking with me and continuing to read and review!

Chapter 11

"What?!" Sasori swung his head around to look at Deidara. The boy looked even whiter than before. "She's your..." He looked back at Kaede who was still surveying them calmly. But her eyes—eyes almost the exact same shade and shape as Deidara's, Sasori now realized—were dancing with cruel laughter. Now that he was looking for it, the puppet master could see that there was a resemblance between the two. He never would have guessed if before, though. When he had heard Kaede speak of her past with Deidara, he had assumed that she was just an old friend, or perhaps a teacher as she was obviously five or six years beyond Deidara's eighteen. But his _sister_? In all the endless hours of idle chatter the kid had spouted out during their years together, he had never once mentioned a sibling. In fact, Sasori could swear Deidara had told him at some point that he had no family that he knew of. But the look on his face now completely contradicted his previous story, and if what the woman said wasn't true, Deidara would have denied it by now.

Kaede's smirk had broadened although it never reached the cold eyes with which she surveyed the other Iwa-nin. Sasori felt anger swell up past the surprise as he saw the obvious pleasure she took in Deidara's fear. "Yes, Akasuna no Sasori, it is true," she said to him, although her gaze was still trained on his partner. "Deidara, I'm hurt that you don't seem to have even _mentioned_ your dear sister to your own partner."

"'Dear' isn't quite how I'd put it," Deidara said, his voice still quavery.

"Oh, Dei, you wound me," Kaede responded, finally tearing her eyes away from him to look upwards and dramatically place a hand over her heart. "You know, I believe that's the exact word I used when I first told _my_ partner about _you_." At this, she turned to indicate another woman, tall and raven-haired, who had just appeared beside her. The newcomer looked edgy and was actually watching Kaede more closely than she was her enemies. Deidara barely spared this one a glance before deciding they didn't need to worry about her right now. She didn't look like she wanted a fight. But she was certainly right to be keeping an eye on Kaede, who, as she was now demonstrating, was given to reckless, dramatic actions. Deidara almost cracked a smile thinking about how in his own partnership he was the rash and Sasori the sensible one. But drawing that parallel between himself and his sister banished any amused thoughts. Instead, he took a deep breath before pulling his arm from Sasori's grip and stepped up beside the puppet master. He tried to put on a hard, confident exterior as he met Kaede's eyes and push any fear away, allowing hate and anger to bubble up instead.

"What are you doing her, Kaede?" he asked, pleased when he heard that his voice was no longer shaking.

"Oh, little brother, I thought you were smarter than that," she responded, shaking her head in mock exasperation. "After the terms we left each other on, what...ten years ago now? And then my attacking you the other night. I'd think it was pretty obvious that I'm here to kill you."

Deidara's heart raced a little faster at those words although it was the answer he had expected. He felt Sasori stiffen beside him and sensed the eyes of the others turning in his direction, but he ignored them. He kept his cool gaze on the young woman, cocking his head as he regarded her. "So it _was_ you who attacked me. Not the smartest move on your group's part. Don't they know you get impulsive and make stupid mistakes when you're sent after someone you really want to kill? Mistakes like confronting seven enemy shinobi?"

"Well, I'd only say six actually. Sorano here over heard the Hokage tell that Hyuuga kid to block up your chakra."

Sasori hissed angrily at that, and Deidara assumed this ill-will was directed at Tsunade rather than Kaede. Reminded of his other companions then, the Iwa-nin took a moment to glance at the others. Sasori had gotten over his initial shock and was now glaring at the two women. Beside him, Kisame was still looking at them in some surprise and confusion, but he had drawn Samehada and was holding it at the ready. Itachi—predictably enough—was just staring emotionlessly with his eyes glowing red.

Looking beyond his fellow Akatsuki, Deidara could see Neji and Tsunade standing a few yards away, both ready to fight as well and watching the exchange suspiciously. And Sakura...was no where to be seen. Deidara didn't let anything show on his face, as he knew Kaede was still watching him. But he surveyed the area for a brief second and confirmed that the kunoichi had, indeed, disappeared. But there was nothing he could do about this mystery for now. He was just turning his attention back to Kaede when Tsunade glanced over and flashed him a quick smile.

_She went back for help, _Deidara realized. _Slipped away while _her_ attention is focused on me._

At first, the though was comforting. As much as Deidara wanted to be the one to kill Kaede—slowly and _painfully—_there wasn't much he could do with no clay and his chakra blocked. But then he remembered the three Akatsuki standing beside him. Deidara would probably be all right as he wasn't so recognizable out of his usual garb and with his hair so drastically different. The others, however... The Iwa-nin shot Tsunade a look which said she _better_ have something in mind before he looked back to Kaede.

"Worrying about your friends?" she cooed sarcastically. "Well, no need for that. If you come quietly, we won't bother them."

"Maybe not now," Tsunade spoke up. Kaede's head snapped towards her. "But if your people have their way, eventually no one will be left but those you deem worthy."

"Well, Hokage-sama, it seems you do know something of us. Kanaye said you did."

Tsunade flinched slightly at her old friend's name but continued to stare Kaede down steadily. "Speaking of Kanaye, I have a message I'd like you to give him."

"Oh, really? And what would that be?" Kaede sneered.

"This." Before either Kaede or her partner had time to react, the Hokage sprung into the air, robe whipping out behind her and leg raised high. A second later, it struck the ground before the two enemies with tremendous force, creating a great crash that resounded hugely in the previously silent forest. The dirt that had just been settling from Kaede's attack was whipped up again in great clouds. Recognizing the move as a distraction as well as an attack, Deidara quickly grabbed Sasori's arm and turned the older man in his direction.

"You have to get out of here now," he said, looking up at Itachi and Kisame to include them as well. "They've sent for reinforcements, probably the ANBU. Tsunade's agreed not to harm you, but she can't account for what they'll do if they find the three of you here."

"It sounds as if you're not coming with us," Kisame said with a frown.

Deidara shook his head, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Tsunade was still keeping up a good dust cloud. "I need to stay here. There's...just some things concerning Kaede and her organization that I need to help sort out."

"Then you can sort it out with the Akatsuki, not Konoha," Sasori said harshly. "I came all the way out here just to get you, so I'm not going anywhere until you come."

"No, Sasori-no-danna," Deidara said as the puppet master tried to pull the boy along after him. He firmly removed his arm from his partner's grip once again. "I don't have time to explain, but _I have to stay here_."

"Sasori," Kisame said, looking in the direction of Konoha where they could already sense the ANBU approaching. "We don't have time to argue. We have to go."

Deidara looked up at the Suna-nin pleadingly. The other stared back, surprise, anger, and a slightly betrayed expression evident on his face. "I'm sorry, Danna, and I really do appreciate that you came for me. But I have to do this." Sasori was about to protest again, but Itachi called him sharply. He and Kisame had already begun to move.

The puppet master gave his partner one more angry look before spinning away. "Fine, brat. Do what you want." And then he was running after Itachi and Kisame, all three racing into the forest. Deidara felt a slight tug in his heart. If he really _was_ going to die in the events ahead as he had predicted to Tsunade he might, he would have at least liked to leave his partner on good terms. But he quickly banished such feelings from his mind and turned his back on the three retreating Akatsuki.

The two enemies didn't appear to have noticed this disappearance, either, or simply couldn't react to it. Kaede was being kept occupied by Tsunade, who was now aiming to kill rather than distract. The younger woman was holding her own, however. Both were concentrating as hard on not getting hit as attacking. Neji had moved in to take Kaede's partner, but the other woman still didn't seem interested in fighting. She also appeared to have sensed the approaching ninja.

"Kaede! They've sent for reinforcements. We have to go!"

Kaede growled but didn't answer or back down, instead dodging another kick from Tsunade and responding by swinging her chakra-covered fist at the Hokage. Deidara watched edgily, feeling weak and completely useless, wishing desperately that he could help somehow. Then Kaede suddenly tore away from Tsunade and flew at _him_.

Deidara stumbled backwards, hand falling automatically to where his clay pouch usually hung. When his mouth snapped shut on nothing but empty air, the Iwa-nin felt the fear he had pushed away rush back through him. This was exactly like ten years ago: him standing defenseless before his sister's headlong rush, only this time she wouldn't leave him merely half-dead. Sasori wasn't here to save him this time. He had no way to fight her off himself as he assumed he had her previous attack. Tsunade had immediately lunged after Kaede, but she was still too far away. And then all Deidara could see were his sister's wild, hate-filled eyes. In desperation, he dropped into a defensive position, prepared to combat her with purely physical attacks—although he knew it was useless.

But luck was on his side yet again. A dark shape dropped down from the trees above, blocking Kaede from Deidara's view. There was a loud thud rather than the explosion he was expecting, and he glanced over the should of the person in front of him—who he now recognized as Sakura—to see that Kaede had been flung backwards. She hit a tree with another crack that made Deidara flinch despite himself. Then his attention was diverted to Sakura.

The kunoichi spun around almost as soon as Kaede was thrown back, her fist still half-raised from the punch she had inflicted. Deidara was surprised to see that her aqua eyes were wide and worried. She just stared at him a moment, lowering her arm slowly.

"Are you all right?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, un," the Iwa-nin responded, relaxing himself. Sakura nodded, not even bothering to correct his speech slip-up. Then, she suddenly sprung forward and threw her arms around Deidara's neck, catching him completely off guard and causing him to fall backwards yet again.

"I thought she had you!" the girl said shakily, not crying but obviously upset. "She was so close and moving so fast... I didn't think I'd get there in time."

"Well... you did," Deidara said uncertainly. He lifted his own arms and placed them around the girl tentatively. "Erm... thanks?"

Sakura abruptly pulled away as quickly as she had thrown herself on him, and Deidara could tell from her flushed, embarrassed expression that she only then really realized what she had just done. "No problem," she muttered, keeping her eyes downcast. Then her head snapped up and she glanced back to the tree her attack had propelled Kaede into. But the woman had disappeared, as well as her partner. In their place were half-a-dozen ANBU.

"So close," Tsunade was grumbling. She glanced over at the two teens, a faint amusement flickering beneath her angry exterior. "They got away while you were...occupied. They were only a couple seconds ahead of the ANBU, but they were moving fast. The pursuit may catch up to them, but they were moving fast." Her eyes focused on Deidara, studying him for a brief moment. "Take him back to your apartment, Sakura. I'll straighten things out here and then call for you when I return to the village. We have a lot to discuss."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sakura said. She grabbed Deidara's arm. "Come on."

The Iwa-nin remained still at first. His eyes had wandered over to the spot where the Akatsuki had disappeared. Part of him would have given anything to follow after them... He sighed gloomily and hurried after Sakura.

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Sorano and Kaede fairly flew through the forest, but their passage barely stirred leaf or branch. They weren't worried about the ninja on their trail. Sorano was an expert at cloaking and infiltration techniques, and her ability to mask their chakra and cover their tracks, combined with the two kunoichi's excessive speed, was more than enough to leave the hunters behind. They continued in this manner for nearly an hour, just to be sure, and when any indication of a pursuit had disappeared, Sorano ground to a halt. Kaede followed suit, and her partner was quick to grab the smaller woman's arm and spin her around so they faced each other. Sorano, always of an amiable personality, could not remember the last time she was so furious.

"How _dare_ you react like that?! You almost got us both killed! The first group was bad enough, but we just barely avoided those ANBU!"

"But we never would have had another opportunity like that," Kaede protested just as heatedly. "And I was so _damn close_ that time!"

"Well, maybe if you had actually kept attacking after that first miss instead of letting your everlasting _mouth_ get in the way, you _would_ have got him. Tch!" Sorano released Kaede's arm and shoved the other kunoichi away from her. "I've seen you do some incredibly brash things before, but this one leaves them all behind. I _told_ Kanaye you would screw this up. _And_ I've warned you over and over not to act impulsively. And now he's gotten away. _Again._"

A moment of silence passed, Kaede staring at her feet with an angry flush spread across her features and Sorano with her back turned, glaring into the surrounding trees. "What should we do now?" Kaede finally spoke up. She was still too fired up to offer an actual apology, but the least she could do was cede the decision making to her partner.

"We can't report another failure to Kanaye," Sorano snapped. "He'd bring this one to Yasuo's attention, and then who knows what _he'll_ do with us. But we certainly won't be getting another chance at Deidara anytime soon. The Hokage will probably have him guarded for his own safety now as well as to keep him from escaping." The kunoichi sighed in frustration, running a hand through her dark hair. Then she turned back to Kaede. "For now we should just sit back, see what happens. We're doing the right thing here, all of us, and eliminating those who oppose us is essential to attaining our goals. It will work out somehow."

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I apologize for both the extreme shortness and almost uselessness of this chapter. I'm also sorry that there was no big, epic fight like it appeared there might be at the end of the last chapter. I was considering it, but I got a bit daunted by the seven-on-two odds. Ugh, I almost feel bad for even posting this one. But, hey, at least we've got a start to the Deidara/Sakura action!


	13. Chapter 12

Dammit, I was sooooo close to having this chapter out just a week or two after the last one. But then I realized that I wasn't quite as prepared for college as I thought I was, and there went all my time again. And now that school has actually started, I'm busier than ever. Many apologies.

Oh, and one little note: I know the new databook says that Deidara is 19, but since I've already stated somewhere in this story that he is 18, I'm going to continue to go with that. Not that it's a huge difference, but whatever. Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 12

Deidara sat on the lumpy couch in Sakura's living room, legs drawn up to his chest, chin on his knees, and mind deep in thought. His _once_ grudging hostess had stepped out for a bit, claiming that she needed to run some errands but would be back before Tsunade called for them. Deidara rather doubted the legitimacy of that pretense. But he couldn't blame Sakura for feeling awkward after her little display in the forest. She had been pink and fidgety their entire trek back to Konoha and for the few minutes she'd remained in the apartment when they arrived. Some time away from him would give her a chance to compose herself. He was feeling decidedly uncomfortable himself.

But his thoughts were now less focused on the kunoichi's strange behavior then they were on other things. Sasori was weighing heavy on his mind. He couldn't help but feel that he had betrayed the other missing-nin, his partner, mentor, and one of the few real friends he'd ever had. Then there was Kaede, his once kind and loving older sister who was now no better than a monster in his eyes. But even these weren't the issues occupying the forefront of his thoughts. In the time since Sakura left that he'd spent pondering recent events, his mind had turned to the strange dream he'd had several nights before. He'd even pushed aside his aversion for the ram statue he'd magically pulled out of the phantasm and removed both it and the horn from the cupboard Sakura had crammed them into and placed them on the coffee table before him.

Now, the Iwa-nin sat, statue-still, with his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the two objects. His dream replayed itself over and over again in his head. Deidara didn't know why it seemed so important to him all of a sudden. Before, he had thought that if any of it was significant, it was the last part, which seemed to be more a memory of the night he was attacked than an actual dream. But now it was the beginning, the segment that took place in the bizarre Land of Contention, that absorbed his thoughts. The fact that time hadn't blurred the fantasy like it so often did added to his sudden feeling that it was meaningful in some way. On the contrary, now that he was actually thinking about it, the dream seemed just as sharp and vivid as it had at first, when he had detailed it to Sakura. He hadn't given it much consideration since then...

He hadn't had any surprising epiphanies or insights into what it all meant. So, for nearly an hour, he just sat and stared and watched the images reel through his head. That was how Sakura found him when she finally reappeared. Deidara jumped when the opening door snapped him out of his reverie and his eyes met the kunoichi's for a brief second before they both quickly looked away, each of them coloring slightly. Then Sakura's gaze found the items set on the table. She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I was just thinking," Deidara responded to her inquiring look. He unclasped his hands from where they were hugging his knees and reached one out to touch the ram statue, running his fingers lightly over its ebony horns. Sakura plopped down in a chair next to him, her arms empty despite her claim to have gone out for groceries. She looked at his expression quietly. "Tsunade-sama wants to see us now," she said eventually. "They...didn't catch up to your sister, though. Both of them got away." Deidara wrinkled his nose. He hadn't held out much hope that they would be caught, but that didn't make the news any easier. "But," Sakura continued, "on a better note—for you, at least—the ANBU aren't aware of the Akatsuki being there. They got far enough away in time, and in a different direction than Kaede went."

"That's good," Deidara muttered. That news really did lift his spirits considerably—even though he hadn't expected them to get caught either—but he was feeling too forlorn at the moment to let it show. His fingers continued to trace along the contours of the figurine slowly.

"We really should be going to Tsunade-sama's office, now," Sakura prompted when the Iwa-nin made no more response.

"Yeah," Deidara agreed, unfolding his legs and standing. Then he bent and picked up both the statue and the horn.

"Thought you couldn't even stand to look at those," Sakura observed as she rose with him.

Deidara shrugged. "They're important. And I believe we decided to tell Tsunade about the statue, and I am sure she would want to see it." He began to walk towards the door. Sakura didn't follow immediately.

"Deidara," she said slowly. He turned to look at her. "You do realize that she's probably going to ask you questions...you know, about Kaede?" Sakura wasn't sure how hard this would be on the Iwa-nin. Judging from his obvious shock and fear on first seeing his sister, his past with her wasn't a particularly fond memory. On their way back into the village after the encounter, Deidara had briefly told her what had transpired after she left to fetch the ANBU, and the dialogue between the two siblings revealed an obvious antagonism. Her thoughts were confirmed by the hard look on Deidara's face now. He glanced away from her, his eyes distant and cold.

"I know," he responded. Then he smiled half-heartedly. "But I'm pretty sure I can tell you all you need to know about her without getting too deep into personal history. I'll be fine. Don't go worrying about me again."

Sakura blushed slightly at the word "again" but simply nodded. "All right. Then we should go before Tsunade-sama starts getting impatient."

The short walk to the Hokage's office was silent and still a bit awkward. Sakura, as the bestower of the impromptu hug in the forest, was especially uncomfortable. Her time out of the apartment had also been spent in deep thought, and, like Deidara, she hadn't come to any decisive conclusion on the subject of those thoughts. But there was one thing that she could no longer deny no matter how hard she tried—she was beginning to care for the missing-nin. She didn't know when any feelings for him had first started to develop or how long she had been renouncing them. The kunoichi could recall several times since Deidara's arrival that she _had_ had to remind herself that he was still their enemy, but any soft emotions she had towards him she just chalked up to her being sympathetic by nature. But it sure as hell wasn't sympathy that had caused her to fling her arms around her so-called "enemy."

Sakura sneaked a glance over at Deidara as they walked quietly side by side. Now that she thought about it, he really was quite good looking. As well as strong, intelligent, upbeat, even charming at times. Once she would have negated those descriptions by saying that he was also rude, selfish, sarcastic, murdering scum. But now she realized that—although some of that was true, as well—it was also just a label she placed on all criminals. She really didn't know that much about Deidara or his motives for doing what he did. So maybe it wouldn't be so bad to give him a chance...

Deidara chose that moment to flicker his own eyes in her direction, causing her to glance away with a blush yet again. He snorted softly, but she didn't look back at him to see if it was meant to be scornful or just amused. That was her other problem. She had no idea what his feelings were. The kunoichi sighed and focused her gaze on the Hokage's office when it came into view. But that was the healthiest way for it to be. She couldn't believe she was even contemplating a relationship in the first place. It was best to accept that, yes, she did have feelings for Deidara and then just let it lie. There were more important things to worry about right now.

Tsunade was standing with her back to the door, looking out the window, when the two teenagers arrived, but she immediately turned upon their entrance and motioned for them to sit. She settled behind her desk herself before speaking. "I believe you both already know that the two Rebirth members escaped?" They nodded. "Even with ANBU right on their tail..." Tsunade shook her head then looked at Deidara. "I think, before we determine our next course of action, I want to hear everything you now about this group, and I, in turn, will tell you my story in relation to them." The Iwa-nin nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. That sounds good to me."

Tsunade proceeded to repeat her story as Deidara listened intently. Sakura fiddled with the strings of her bag—which she had pulled out to, once again, transport the horn and statue in—and only half-focused on the narrative, as she had already heard it recently. She noticed that this telling wasn't nearly as emotional as the first in which Tsunade had evidenced a great deal of anger and pain. Of course, Deidara was one of the last people she would want to show any vulnerability in front of. Sakura wondered how well the Iwa-nin would fare in his own telling.

When the Hokage had finished, Deidara sighed. "I know of this Kanaye guy, too. He's the one that recruited Kaede." The young ninja leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling, as if contemplating where to begin his own story. "I guess first you should know that Kaede and I aren't natives to Iwagakure," he eventually began. "I don't know exactly where we came from; I was no more than a baby when we left, and Kaede never told me about our original home. But Iwa isn't known for being tolerant of outsiders, so it's been made painfully obvious to me my entire life that I didn't really belong there. But, luckily for us, Kaede happened to stumble upon an old woman who took pity on our situation and brought us into her home. The woman was a retired jounin, quite well-respected in Iwa, so when Kaede and me began to exhibit qualities of a possible shinobi, she pulled some strings and got us into the academy. Kaede was already older than most academy entrants, so we began at the same time."

Here, Deidara's expression turned from contemplating to bitter. "We were both almost immediately acknowledged as geniuses. And that just made everything worse. No one liked the outsiders outperforming the others. We were ridiculed for our techniques as well. I was especially scoffed at because of these." He held out his hands, the tongues in his palms poking out in illustration. "Kaede doesn't have them although our jutsu are similar. But we were both looked down on by many people for our loud, unorthodox methods. However, we both managed to prevail and graduate to genin. Things got better for me there. My sensei was tolerant, sometimes even friendly, towards me. And although I never struck up anything even close to a friendship with my teammates, they put up with me through training and missions, and we worked well together.

"But Kaede wasn't so lucky. Her sensei was completely apathetic towards her. He turned a blind eye to the treatment she received from her teammates, one of whom was the nephew of the woman who took us in. He had always hated us for coming into his family. No matter how high their standing, the clan was still looked down on to some degree after our arrival. He'd always terrorized us, but it became worse for Kaede after they were put on the same team. The others refused to watch her back in fights. If someone ever had to be put in the line of fire as a decoy, it was always her. She was never treated when she was injured, just sent home bleeding. And she came back like that a lot. The woman that took us in... she was kind, but not motherly. She'd shake her head over Kaede's wounds and send for a healer to fix her up, but she never tried to do anything about the circumstances that caused it."

Deidara had set his clasped hands in his lap and was staring at them. His expression had changed again, this time to one of barely concealed sadness. Sakura had to resist the urge to reach out and place a comforting hand on his shoulder. She turned her eyes to her own lap as the Iwa-nin continued.

"I think it was about that time that Kaede began to hate me," he said quietly. "My life had gotten better upon graduating the academy. Not good, but better. And that was also when I discovered how I could mold my chakra into clay and create living, exploding sculptures. I had my art, and that was enough to get me through.

"But Kaede had nothing. No friends, no dreams, no passions. She was close to me in our academy days, but afterwards we began to drift apart. And then it's like one day Kaede decided to compare the qualities of our separate lives. My genin team was strong. Like I said, we weren't close, but we trained together often and carried out a large number of missions. We all graduated to chuunin at the very next exam. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Kaede trained alone. Her teammates' refusal to accept her led to a weak squad and many failed missions. Although Kaede is now at least at a high jounin level, she never officially made it past genin. And..."

Sakura glanced back up when Deidara trailed off. He had raised his head suddenly and he looked almost angry. The kunoichi was concerned for a moment before she remembered something he had said to her earlier that day. _"I'm pretty sure_ _I can tell you all you need to know about her without getting too deep into personal history."_ The Iwa-nin jerked his gaze to the side and continued in a stiff voice. "Well, basically Kaede's life just became even more of a living hell than it had been before. She trained all the time, but we never realized how strong she had become until the day she lost it on a mission and killed her entire team. And then she ran. She was chased my ANBU for a good while, but she ended up killing several of them as well before they lost her trail and she escaped.

"The rest is pretty much like your story, Tsunade-sama." Both women started slightly at Deidara's sudden use of the honorific, but he continued as if it was nothing new. "I stayed on in Iwagakure. But it began to get worse for me again. I'd been starting to earn some respect, if nothing else, from the other villager due to my success as a ninja. I was expected to become a jounin in short time. When Kaede killed those people, though... all the progress I'd made didn't matter anymore. And then, almost a year after she left, Kaede came back to me.

"She was wearing the same outfit you said Kanaye had on. The necklace as well. She had never been an emotional person, but she was somehow much colder than she had ever been before. And..." he shrugged. "Like I said, it's pretty much the same as yours. Kanaye had come to her after she left Iwa and recruited her for their group. She accepted. And then she came to recruit me. Explained their whole philosophy, said that I would actually be welcomed there, unlike we were in Iwa. I... I almost accepted. Powerful or not, my abilities were still looked down upon in the village. I wanted a place to showcase my art without it being sneered at. And a place to be accepted..."

He trailed off and jerked his head again, as if trying to physically cut off that train of thought. "Well, obviously I refused. Kaede got pissed off and left, and this is the first time I've seen her since then. That's really all I can tell you that would pertain to her now."

Sakura was quiet for a moment before a question suddenly occurred to her. "But why are they so intent on killing you? Not just Kaede, but her whole organization?"

Deidara started to shrug, but Tsunade cut the motion off. "Don't say you don't know. When Kaede attacked you this morning she said you should know why she wanted to kill you, and you certainly didn't look surprised at all. If they killed people merely for refusing their proposals, we _both_ could very well have been dead years ago."

"But I really _don't_ know exactly why," the boy insisted. "Kaede's answer to my refusal was 'You've just sentenced yourself to an early death, little brother.' I don't know why she didn't try to kill me right there. But I've lived the last ten years always on the lookout for anyone from Rebirth. The way she said it... It left no doubt that they'd be after me. Before hearing your story I really thought it was just because I hadn't accepted the position."

Tsunade sighed and nodded. "Very well. I will think over what you have told me. Tomorrow you will both return here, and we will decide what our next move will be."

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Ugh, I hate abrupt endings. And short chapters. I'm sure you're all sick of hearing this, but I'm sooooo incredibly sorry about my few updates, especially with as little as I usually have to show for the long waits. Please don't hate me :( I'm trying.


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